Amethyst's Adventures
by Violet Whirlwind
Summary: The epic of a young unipeg the only one of her kind destined for greatness...only three chapters as of yet.
1. Adventure 1: Humble Beginings

Author's note: Couple things I must mention. First of all, the mandatory disclaimer: MLP and all related places and characters are (c) Hasbro and whoever made the cartoon. Amethyst and all other fanchars (none of which appear for several chapters)are (c) me.

And yes, though it says it was written by Amethyst, this is Violet Whirlwind and I DID write it. Amethyst and Violet Whirlwind are just two different pen names for the same person, and I go by either one,depending on the fandom I'm writing for.

Also, I have been told that there are similarities in this to Dark Crystal. And while I enjoyed the movie, this is purely coincidental. Appologies to the creators of that for the coincidences. I did not intend to have these similarities. In fact, this was written before I ever saw the movie.

This is also kind of old. I am aware of a lack of realism in some places, and some character inconsistancies. I appologize for that. I have not seen the show in AGES, and some of the episodes I have been unable to see AT ALL. So please excuse the possible out-of-character-ness of some of the cannons. Also, I have taken some liberties in places. I have a STRONG desire to rename Ponyland, as it seems annoyingly obvious. However, I have not come up with anything good as of yet. And 'winking' in MY version is called 'teleporting' as I find the word 'winking' as dorky to be used for what it was used for, as well as causing confusion with the normal meaning of the word 'wink.' Aside from these things, I tried to stay as accurate as possible, considering my annoying lack of info about certain things in a fandom that I have held dear to my heart formany, manyyears.

Another note: This is written in first person, from my main fanchar's point of view...though that may have to change in future chapters, I don't know.

* * *

Amethyst's Adventures #1: Humble Beginnings

By Amethyst, Defender of Dreams

Most ponies are born into a world of bright sunshine and flowers. Not me. My name is Amethyst, and I was born in a cold, dark cave far beneath the sun-warmed grass. My mother told me of a land where the wind sighs softly and birds sing sweetly. In the eerie green light shed by the bioluminescent fungus that somehow grew on the cave walls I could only imagine what that other world looked like, but it gave me hope. Someday, I vowed I would escape this dungeon and make a place for myself in the world above.

One day, several weeks after I came into this dark world, I lay beside my mother on the cold stone floor of our prison. I was asking her again about the world above, when a commotion at the rear of the birth chamber made me jump to my feet. Many strange creatures were entering through a hole in the rear wall of the chamber. Their bodies flickered and changed shape every time they moved. They moved about the cavern shouting and prodding sleeping ponies with their spears. I became frightened and moved closer to my mother, who stood protectively by my side. She tried to reassure me, but I could feel her trembling with fear beside me.

"Mama, what are they?" I asked as the creatures approached.

"They're called Chaoticals, and they are the reason we live in this dark cave. They're coming to take me back to the slave quarters. Remember what I have taught you; we may never see each other again. Never forget about the land above."

"I won't, but why do they want to separate us?"

"They don't want us to try to fight for our freedom. Breaking up families is just a way to keep us under their control."

"But why?"

"That's just the way things are."

Just then, a group of Chaoticals came to take my mother away. As she was led away, she called over her shoulder, "Remember, Amethyst, you must not forget the land of sunshine. Find a way to escape this dungeon!"

"Mother, don't go!" I cried as she disappeared through the gap in the wall that the Chaoticals had entered through. The only ponies left inside the great cavern were the other foals who had been born in the past couple weeks.

That night I couldn't sleep. I felt totally alone without my mother by my side. All around me I heard the cries and whimpers of foals that felt the same loneliness I did. I cried myself to sleep.

Several days later, some of the others had gathered in small groups of friends who helped each other adjust to life without their mothers. I, however, continued to sit alone by the rift my mother had been taken through. Several of the other foals had come up to me and invited me to join their groups, but I politely refused. I was still not over the grief of being separated from my mother. There was another reason that I didn't join any of the groups, however. I felt somehow different from any of them. I felt a great sense of purpose well up within myself. Once again I silently vowed to escape to the land my mother had told me about.

One day as I was sitting alone as usual, I was startled by a sound emanating from beyond the rift in the wall. Curiosity got the better of me, and I stuck my head in the hole. I found myself staring right into the eyes of a huge Chaotical. With a frightened whinny I jumped into the air. Surprise replaced my fear. I looked at my back, where the air was whooshing curiously. I had wings! I stared at the wings - which seemed to be flapping of their own accord - until a shout from a frightened pony brought me back to reality. The Chaoticals were herding terrified baby ponies toward a rift in the wall opposite the one the adults had gone through. Suddenly something inside me spurred me into action. With a mighty rush of air, I swooped down like a purple lightning bolt and began chasing and dive-bombing the Chaoticals.

"Run!" I shouted to the other babies. "I'll keep them busy!"

For several impressive minutes, there was chaos in the birth chamber. I realized - too late - that even though I had told the others to run, I hadn't told them where to run. The Chaoticals were beginning to catch the tiring foals, and I realized that I too was beginning to tire. I drifted gently to the floor in a puff of dust. Several Chaoticals converged on me, and I blacked out.

* * *

When I came to, I was in another great cavern. While the birth chamber had been stark and empty, this one was quite ornate. It was also quite a bit brighter than it was in the birth chamber. Many stalactites, stalagmites, and pillars of various shapes and sizes created an impressive feeling of opulence. Seated on a magnificent flowstone throne was a gigantic Chaotical, almost twice the size of the others. Upon his mammoth head, he wore an intricate silver crown with many rare and beautiful gems set in the silver. In his hands/paws/talons, he held an equally intricate and beautiful gold scepter. Although his face was constantly changing shape, the Chaotical King's expression remained the same: stern and unfeeling. 

He waved his scepter idly in my direction. "Bring me the first baby for inspection."

It was then that I noticed the other foals from the birthing chamber. They were chained together all in a line. I was the last in line. The guards led the first foal in line up to the throne. The rest of us walked forward, pulled by the chain in front of us. The first baby pony walked confidently forward and stared unblinking at the Chaotical King. She was a pink pegasus with an electric blue mane and tail. The King looked at her with a bored expression on his ever-changing face. He waved his scepter to the left, saying, "Strong ponies to the left, weaklings to the right." The pink baby pranced confidently out of the cavern. The next foal quivered and cowered in front of the King's imposing presence. The King gave the pathetic-looking baby pony a mere passing glance before waving to the right and saying, "Weaklings are only good for personal service."

It continued like this for each pony in line, and before long, it was my turn. I gulped and walked forward, head held high and proud. I heard a few snickers from some of the Chaoticals in the room, and, wondering what they were laughing about, looked around. The King said, "This is highly unusual. I have seen many unicorn and pegasus ponies in my time as King, but never both in the same pony!"

_What! _I thought. I knew I had wings, but I thought that was all. Boldly, I asked the King if he had a mirror. This brought gales of laughter to the already giggling Chaoticals. The King actually _smiled _and pointed behind me. I looked. Two Chaoticals brought a mirror over. I stared. I gaped. The Chaoticals roared with laughter. My reflection stared back at me, the reflection of a winged unicorn. I turned back to the King, thinking to myself, _So that's why my head itched so much after I was born._ The laughter died down as the King made his decision. I shuffled nervously, waiting to find out where I would be going. The King pointed to the left, and I practically did a backflip in the air for joy.

That joy wouldn't last long however.

* * *

I was placed in the mining division. Only the ponies not considered weaklings were included in this group. The living conditions in the slave quarters here weren't bad, but they weren't great either. I was chained to a fairly large stalagmite near the rear of the immense cavern, with a large pillar to my left. The ceiling was covered in various-sized, yellow-green, glowing shelf fungus. It sloped downward, ending in many countless flowstone drips near the edges of the chamber, which disappeared into darkness. I didn't dare think what might lie beyond the lighted parts of the cave. Curiously, there was only one gateway that the Chaoticals entered and exited from, even though the dark parts of the cave seemed to go on forever.My curiosity caused me to venture toward the patch of darkness closest to me. 

"I wouldn't go over there if I were you."

The voice made me jump back in fright.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you."

I turned to the speaker. It was the pink peg from the throne room. Her electric blue mane was heavily tousled, as if she had just woken up.

"You didn't scare me. I was merely startled, that's all." I said.

"Well, anyway, I don't think you should go over there."

"Why not?" I asked.

"There's a rumor that this cavern is almost completely surrounded by a bottomless pit, reinforced by magic. Anyone foolish enough to go over there would be sucked into it."

"But why would the Chaoticals put a spell like that there? Don't they want us as slaves?"

"I don't know, but I think it's to keep us from trying to escape. By the way, my name's Firefly, what's yours?"

"Amethyst."

It was then that I noticed her symbol, double lightning bolts the same electric blue as her hair.

"Where you from?" she asked.

"I was born here."

"I'm sorry."

"Why, weren't you?"

"No, thank the Rainbow!"

My attention was now riveted on the pink pegasus as she told me about the land above. She spoke of giant fruit trees and huge meadows of lush green grasses. She spoke of the mysterious yet peaceful and beautiful forest surrounding the meadows. I could just imagine the majestic mountains that rose above the valley. I pictured the bright blue sky lit by the friendly sun. Most of all, though, I yearned to see the bright, beautiful Rainbow arching majestically through the clear blue sky.

"The adult ponies had recently named our home Dream Valley. It's only a small part of the great island country of Ponyland; there are areas there that I have never visited. The adults were building a castle before I was captured. They're probably searching for me now," said Firefly.

"If you lived up there, how did you get down here?" I asked.

"I was just getting to that. I was playing hide-and-seek with the other babies . . ."

"What's hide-and-seek?"

"It's just a game. Please don't interrupt."

"Sorry."

"Ahem. Where was I? Oh yes . . . I was playing hide-and-seek with the other babies, and I ran off into the forest looking for a hiding place."

"Why were you hiding?"

"It's part of the game. Anyway, I stumbled upon a great, gaping hole in the ground, and decided to hide there, thinking that they'd never find me inside a cave in the forest. Little did I know that I was right. Someone else found me, however - a Chaotical guard. I didn't have time to scream, however, because the guard clapped a hand over my mouth to prevent it. I was dragged, kicking and struggling into the King's chamber. That's when I saw all of you chained together. I was very afraid, but refused to show it. I thought, 'I don't care what he does to me, I am not going to bow down to that creature! Rainbow knows, danger is my life!' So here I am." she finished.

* * *

The next day, we were led out of the slave quarters, across a narrow bridge of slippery limestone. I chanced a look over the sides of the walkway. It seemed the rumors about a bottomless pit were correct. I could barely make out the sides of the chasm descending into the pitch-black depths until they disappeared. I kicked a loose rock over the edge of the bridge. It rolled off, and then vanished into the blackness without a sound. I waited for the sound of the pebble hitting the bottom of the pit or the surface of a pool of water. I heard nothing. I recoiled in horror, almost knocking Firefly (who was chained behind me) into the pit. 

"Amethyst, watch it!" cried my friend.

"Sorry, I didn't mean it. It's just that the stone I kicked . . ." I trailed off.

"Didn't hit bottom?" she finished.

"Yea," I said, shuddering.

"I told you that cave was surrounded by a bottomless pit."

"Hey, less talk, more walk! Hurry it up back there!" shouted a Chaotical guard.

We walked the rest of the way in silence. The stone bridge had been left far behind, and we were walking in complete darkness, when I began to see light up ahead.

"Look!" I whispered to Firefly, pointing to where the light was filtering through the darkness.

"I see it," she said.

"What do you think it is?"

"Well, considering we're the slaves and they're taking us there, I'd assume that's where we are going to be working. Also, considering we're in the mining division, I bet that's the mine!"

"Impeccable reasoning Firefly!"

We both jumped at the new voice.

Firefly gasped in surprise, "Applejack, is that you?"

"Yup."

"How'd you get here? I remember seeing you at home, but then you disappeared."

"I disappeared when I was captured and brought here. I've been here a hundred years or so."

"What!" I said, "You don't look that old to me. Why, you're just as small as I am!"

Firefly turned to me, "Amethyst, you are _so_ naive!" Turning again to Applejack, she said, "Please excuse her, she was born down here only a few weeks ago. How would she know that it takes 500 years for us to grow up?"

_Well, I know now... _I thought.

"She was born down here? The poor thing!" said Applejack, her voice full of pity.

"Excuse me, but I don't need your pity!" I said, somewhat offended.

"Oh no!" said Firefly, clapping a hoof to her forehead, "Two hundred years old, and I still forget my manners! Amethyst, if we've insulted you, we're sorry."

Applejack nodded. "I didn't mean to sound stuck-up, it's just that I couldn't imagine living my whole life down here, never having known anything else."

"It's okay, apology accepted," I said, "I have no intention of living my whole life as a slave down here in the dark anyway."

"Thinking of escape, are you?" a Chaotical guard asked from right behind me.

"Aaaaaah!" I yelped as I leapt into the air. I landed and glared at the speaker.

Applejack stepped in front of me, "No sir! Not a chance! We were merely discussing the different positions available in the mining division." she lied.

"But I wa - Oww!" Firefly kicked my hind hoof to shut me up. "I mean . . . That's right sir!"

"Good," said the guard, "Now no more talking!"

We were led into an expansive cavern, the largest I had seen so far. It was lit by the same glowing fungus as I had seen in the other caves. I gaped openly at the mighty rock wall in front of me. It extended more than a mile in either direction, and was nearly a mile high. The rock practically sparkled with jewels from ceiling to floor! It was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen in the caves. At the base of the giant jewel wall, dwarfed by its immensity, a group of ponies could be seen knocking many-colored crystals out of the rock with pickaxes. Looking up, I saw pegasi hammering the gems until they fell out of the wall into buckets slung over the backs of other pegs hovering beneath the ones with the picks. Those with buckets would sink lower and lower in the air as the buckets filled up. When they reached the floor, the bucket-carriers would deposit the load into mine carts that were pulled by other ponies out of the cavern when full. I noticed that the unicorns were not supplied with pickaxes. They were forced to drill the crystals out of the rock with their horns.

I lifted my hoof and felt my forehead. The horn was just a little bump on my head, but it was definitely there. My head hurt just thinking about drilling through solid rock with my horn.

Luckily, I didn't have to. The young ones, including myself, were put to work gathering stray crystals that had fallen to the floor of the cave. It was tedious work, and the baskets on my back got heavy after a while. It wasn't bad, though. I could work alongside my friends.

After a full day in the mines, though, we returned to our living quarters completely worn out. I was often so tired that it was all I could do to keep from collapsing on the path from exhaustion. I would sleep soundly for a few hours.

Then came the morning meal. Having known little else, I couldn't complain about the nondescript gruel. Firefly and Applejack, however, always made faces when forced to eat it. They told me about a wide variety of wonderful dishes they had had in the world above. Their tales of cakes, puddings, and ice-cream sundaes always made my mouth water.

After we ate, it was time to go back to the mines. Every day was the same: wake up for morning gruel, head to the mines to work, then a midday meal of gruel, work some more, evening gruel, then back to the slave quarters to sleep for a couple hours before the whole process began again.

* * *

Years passed. I slowly grew taller and stronger. At two hundred, I was still on the ground level, picking up stray crystals. But now I was often alone. Firefly had been moved to the adult quarters when she turned 300, and Applejack followed suit a century later. I looked forward to the day when I could rejoin my friends in the adult quarters, but at the same time I dreaded it. I knew that the ponies in the adult division had harder work to do than those in the juvenile division. 

When I turned 299, I was given the year off. A year may seem like a long time for a slave to have off, but after working in the mine for almost 300 years, that "free" year seemed to last only seconds. Even though that "freedom" was short-lived, it gave me a taste of what real freedom must be like, and I liked it. On the last day of the "free" year, right before my 300th birthday, I vowed to spend the rest of my life in the caves of the Chaoticals in pursuit of real freedom.

On my 300th birthday, I was taken to the adult slave quarters, even though technically I would not be full-grown until I was 500. This cave was quite a bit larger than the old one, with an even wider abyss surrounding it, and armed Chaotical guards stationed around the edge; one for every ten ponies. Fortunately, I was placed between the guards, as far away from them as it was possible.

I was overjoyed to hear two familiar voices.

"Amethyst!" Firefly and Applejack called in unison.

"Firefly! Applejack!" I cried, running first to Firefly, who was chained on my left. I gave her a giant pony-hug. I then ran to Applejack, who was chained to my right and embraced her as well. "How have you two been?" I asked.

Applejack sat down heavily. "Well, we get by, but the Chaoticals give us much harder things to do than they did when we were in the juvenile department." she sighed, "I was put to work pulling the mine carts. They're terribly heavy! Of course, the carts are often overflowing with crystals. I pull the carts to the Chaotical King's vault, wait while the crystals are unloaded, then go back for more. By the end of the day, I'm so tired, I can barely keep my eyes open to eat the horrible gruel they serve us!" she exclaimed.

"I was given a pickax and ordered to gouge crystals out of the rock all day." said Firefly, "I'm usually positioned near the ceiling of the cave because I can fly. Wow, hours of constant flying without any breaks can really take a toll on your wings!" she exclaimed, flexing her wings slowly, "Oh, my aching wings!"

At 500, Firefly was now full-grown; and Applejack, at 400, had just one century to go before she, too would be an adult. It would take two centuries for me to reach adulthood, but I had no plans on staying a slave that long. My first day of working in the adult division reinforced my desire for escape.

I, being the only winged unicorn in the mines, had been ordered to mine the upper regions of the crystal wall . . . without a pickax. I was forced to drill into the wall with my horn to get the crystals out. By lunchtime, my horn was so sore, I didn't know whether I would be able to finish the day without passing out!

After lunch, it was back to work. I worked for about four hours without a break. Then, with one hour to go before the evening meal, I felt a strange tingling in my chest. I tried to ignore it, thinking that it was only my tired body playing tricks on me. But the tingling spread throughout my body until it became impossible to ignore. It moved up my spine, and then into my head, where it began to concentrate at the base of my horn. The tingle became an irresistible tickle. Finally, when I could stand it no longer, I burst out laughing. Everyone was staring at me, but I hardly noticed. The tickle was starting to drive me crazy.

Suddenly, there was a surge of energy within me, and a stream of purple magic shot from my horn like highly pressurized water from a hose. The force of the magic flowing from my horn shot me backwards as the magic from my horn traveled straight to the rock wall in front of me. There was a blinding flash of purple light. Then, just as suddenly as it had begun, the magic stopped flowing from my horn. Totally drained, I sank slowly to the cave floor.

As I stood there shaking, trying to recover from my ordeal, several Chaotical guards came running to restrain me. They beat me mercilessly, until a small voice called out urgently,

"Please stop!"

The Chaoticals looked around, surprised by the voice. I stood, shaking convulsively. Through blurred vision, I saw a white unicorn standing before me. She was angrily chastising the Chaoticals who had been beating me.

"You big bullies! You should know better than to beat a defenseless young unicorn like that!" cried the dark-red haired uni. "What do you have to say for yourselves?"

"But she stopped working!" said one of the guards angrily.

" Well of coarse she did! What did you expect? After eons of keeping unicorns captive you should know that when we first feel our magic, it completely drains our energy!"

"We, um, well . . ." muttered the guards shamefully.

"Just as I thought . . . a bunch of bullies who lose confidence when faced with someone who can fight back! You should give her the rest of the day off."

"Okay," said one of the cowed guards, then angrily, "Hey wait a minute! You're the slaves, not us! We tell you what to do, not the other way around! Back to work, both of you!"

The white unicorn shrugged and whispered to me, "Come on, I'll find you a place to rest where they won't notice you."

I started to follow her when a familiar voice stopped us in our tracks.

"Ahem, where do you think you're going?"

My heart sank. It was the Chaotical King. The white unicorn turned around and was about to speak, when the King held up his scepter for silence.

"I heard what you said, young one. Is it true, tell me honestly, or you shall never see another day!"

My companion gulped visibly, and stepped forward bravely. "Every unicorn is born with the ability to disappear and reappear in another place. We call this ability 'teleportation.' Also, all unicorns are born with their own magical powers that only they themselves possess. These powers usually begin to surface around the age of 400, but can come earlier or later in life. When a power first emerges from the depths of a unicorn's being, it usually comes quite suddenly, causing the individual to experience a debilitating drain of energy. A good meal and plenty of rest are usually all it takes to recover from this 'power surge.'"

"I trust that you speak truly, unicorn," said the Chaotical King, "Thus I grant you and your companion the rest of the day off."

My jaw dropped. I hadn't expected the King to do _that_.

"Is that true?" I asked the white unicorn as we were led back to the slave quarters.

"Of coarse it was, my life depended on it. I really shouldn't have told him that much, but I didn't want him to think I was lying."

"I still can't believe he gave us both the rest of the day off!" I exclaimed.

"What can I say, he wants his slaves in good health, I guess. By the way, my name's Moondancer, what's yours?"

"Amethyst."

It turned out that Moondancer was chained directly to the left of Firefly. When working we were often separated, but afterwards we could be together. I wasn't sure whether the Chaoticals had put us together on purpose, or if it was just accidental. Moondancer was also born in the aboveground world of Ponyland. She had been captured just that day, wandering around in the vicinity of the cave opening, looking for her long-lost friends, Applejack and Firefly. When I told her that her search was over, she looked at me quizzically. I motioned to the ponies who were just entering the slave quarters.

They're both here." I said as joyous shouts were heard from the entrance. We watched as the two ponies broke away from the crowd and ran to join us.

"Moondancer, where'd you come from?"

"The surface, where did you think?"

"It's so good to see you! We missed you!"

"Moondancer, this is Amethyst."

"I know, we met a short while ago."

"Moondancer saved me from the cruel beatings of the Chaoticals." I said.

"Why were they beating you?" asked Firefly, her voice full of concern.

Moondancer said, "She had her first power surge, and the guards thought she had stopped working to spite them."

"Ohhhh." said Firefly and Applejack in unison.

* * *

At the age of 350, I had made up my mind. I was going to escape. The fifty years of horn-breaking toil I had spent in the mines was getting to me. 

"Arrrrrrraagggggghhhh! I can't stand it! I'm getting out of here! Anyone who wants to come can!" I shouted one day as I threw down my crystal basket, causing the crystals to fall from the great height that my tired wings were flapping at. The crystals crashed to the floor, shattering into millions of tiny shards. I landed as guards converged on me.

Quivering with rage I reared up and charged through the masses of Chaoticals regardless of their raking claws. I tore away down the path to the slave chamber, where I crumpled to the floor shaking uncontrollably. I heard hoof-beats behind me, and soon Firefly, Applejack, and Moondancer were by my side, trying to comfort me as I wept bitterly.

"I just can't stay here anymore! I've gotta get away!" I cried.

"I know exactly how you feel," said Firefly, "and we can't linger here much longer. They're bound to come after us."

With difficulty, I rose and stood shakily. Just then, we heard shouts in the distance.

"Hurry!" said Applejack urgently, "They're coming this way."

Galvanized by the fear of being caught, we raced off into a dark passageway, not caring which way it took us, as long as it was away from the enraged Chaoticals. The caverns were a maze of inter-connecting passages that led helter-skelter underground. In our mad dash for freedom, we lost our way in the myriad tunnels and caverns. We took a wrong turn, and suddenly found ourselves face to face with the Chaotical King in his bedchamber. We slid to a screeching halt at his feet.

"What's this?" said the King, raising an eyebrow, "A bunch of escapees, eh? Guards! Get them!"

As we wheeled around, we ran slap-bang into the advancing Chaoticals. They converged upon us and soon we were standing in chains, heads hanging low in shame before the King. He laughed cruelly.

"Thought you could escape me, eh? Wrong! No pony ever escaped the underground kingdom of the Chaoticals, and no pony ever will!"

The King's scepter lifted my chin up so that I was looking into his evil eyes. "You have spirit for one who was born a slave. I've had my eye on you. I knew you'd try something like this one day. No matter. You won't try it again, I'm sure. But just to make sure you don't, I have a little surprise for you. Your friends will go back to work in the mine, and you shall join them, but not before I have my fun with you."

He then turned to the Chaotical guards that were restraining my friends. "Guards! Take those three back to the mine, where they belong."

The Chaotical king turned back to me. "Yes, you shall join them, but not yet. I have other plans for you at the moment."

He released my muzzle from his grasp, and called several Chaoticals to him. "Guards, take this rebel to the Crystal Ring!"

The guards gasped and drew back. "Not the Crystal Ring! Master, you can't!" cried one of the bolder guards.

"I can too! I am the King! I can do whatever I want!" he roared at the unfortunate guard. "Take this pony to the Crystal Ring, now!"

The guards hastened to do his bidding. I was led trembling from the chamber.

* * *

The Crystal Ring was a circle of giant, dark blue crystals that jutted from the floor in the center of a huge amphitheater-like cavern. The Chaotical King was seated in an ornate chair-like cave formation overlooking the center of the Crystal Ring. 

One of the crystals slid back and forth in a groove in the floor like a sliding door. I was shoved through the gap in the ring of crystals formed by this moving crystal door. I looked around, but all I could see were the dark blue crystal walls of the Crystal Ring. Then I looked up. The Chaotical King sneered down at me. "Would you like to know how the Crystal Ring works?" he asked, then, not waiting for my answer, he said, "Good, I will tell you. As soon as the Door Crystal closes, the circuit will be complete, and the Ring Crystals will sense your presence. They will concentrate their power on you, and slowly begin to drain your spirit. The crystals will begin to glow with the spirit they drain from you. As soon as all spirit has been drained from you, you will be released from the ring, but you will never be the same. No, you will never be the same. You will be just an empty shell, with no will but to serve my Chaoticals and me! Have fun! Mouahahahaha!" his evil laughter ricocheted around the chamber, echo compounding upon echo until the laughter seemed to ring inside my ears and head. Suddenly, he stopped laughing. "Guards, close the Crystal Door!"

I watched in horror as my only chance of escape was cut off. Suddenly, there was a tremendous throbbing that reverberated throughout the chamber, as I was pushed down to the floor by an immense pressure. I tried to move toward the edge of the Crystal Ring, but was flattened to the ground by the pressure. Far away, I thought I heard the insane laughter of the Chaotical King. I strained my head to try and see him. He appeared much closer than he sounded. Then the laughter stopped. The King looked dismayed, glanced down at me, then hurried off.

I saw a faint glimmer in the crystal wall. _No,_ I thought, _you won't drain my spirit that easily! _Straining against the flattening pressure, I fought my way toward the crystal wall. I stared, thinking, _What was that?_ There it was again. Something moved beyond the wall of the Crystal Ring. Something orange and vaguely pony-shaped. I fought to resist the formidable pressure pushing me back toward the center of the Crystal Ring. Finally, I reached the wall of crystal. I suddenly felt an irresistible urge to press my face against the crystal. Something deep inside me said, _No! Don't touch it! _I pulled away, realizing that if I so much as brushed up against the crystal wall, all my spirit would be torn away from me. I sunk to the floor, overwhelmed by the invisible hand that was pressing down on me.

* * *

Suddenly, the instant before I would have blacked out, thus transferring the last of my spirit to the Crystal Ring, the monstrous pressure dissipated. Shakily, I stood and faced the crystal wall. I felt extremely weak. When I took a step forward the world pitched violently, and I nearly fell over. The wall before me shimmered with my trapped spirit, taunting me. There was more movement beyond the wall. I squinted, trying to determine whether I was truly seeing what I thought I was, or whether I had just imagined it. Suddenly, two orange hooves appeared pressed against the other side of the crystal wall! Startled, I leapt backwards. A familiar orange face became visible above the hooves, framed by a yellow mane. 

"Amethyst, can you hear me?" came the muffled voice of Applejack.

"Barely." I said as loudly as I could.

Applejack said something I couldn't make out.

"What!" I shouted, "Speak up, please, this crystal wall blocks your voice!"

"I said, stick your horn through the wall!" she shouted back.

"ARE YOU CRAZY! I can't stick my horn through that, it's solid rock!"

"Just do it, OK? Trust me!" she shouted urgently.

"Okay, if you insist!" I said skeptically.

Backing up a few paces, I prepared to charge the wall of the Crystal Ring in front of me. "Look out! Here I come!" I shouted to Applejack. The orange face and hooves disappeared from against the crystal walls. Lowering my horn, I hurtled toward the wall, yelling at the top of my lungs,

"I am Amethyyyyyyst! I am the Defennnnderrrr!"

With a shattering sound, I crashed into the wall, horn first. My horn stuck fast in the wall. As I strained to look around, I felt a peculiar pull from within myself. I managed to catch a glimpse of the Crystal Ring wall. The bright streak trapped within the crystals was quickly disappearing. I felt my strength and spirit returning as the streak in the wall dissipated. Finally back to normal, I tried to extricate myself from the wall. But my horn wouldn't budge. I was stuck!

"Amethyst! What's taking so long! We have to go now if we're going to escape!" I heard Applejack exclaim. Her voice was much easier to hear now that I had breached the Crystal Ring with my horn.

"I can't move!" I cried desperately, still struggling to free myself. "My horn's stuck in the wall!"

"Teleport! It's the only way!" The voice was Moondancer's.

"I don't know how!" I said, beginning to panic. I could hear the voices of Chaoticals making their way toward the cavern.

Moondancer's face appeared on the other side of the crystal wall. She looked into my eyes. "Yes you do, Amethyst. All unicorns are born with the ability to teleport. Your horn is sticking all the way through the wall; I think I can help you, but first you must listen to me. I will help you teleport by touching my horn to yours, but as soon as you are free, we must run. Our combined power will be enough to completely destroy the Crystal Ring, which is what holds this cave system up, and keeps it from collapsing. While Applejack and I were working to free you, Firefly has been freeing the others from the bonds of slavery. They should be safely at the surface by now, but the Chaoticals will be out in force trying to recapture them." Moondancer paused and turned at a sound from the entrance to the cavern. She turned back to me.

"Firefly has just arrived. She said that everyone reached the surface safely. She returned to see what was taking us so long and to warn us of the approach of the Chaoticals. Firefly and I are the only ones who know the way to the surface, but the Chaoticals could cause us trouble. Firefly rushed off to create a diversion while we make our escape. You and Applejack must stay right behind me when we leave here, else we might not make it to the surface before the entire cave system collapses. Understand?" said Moondancer.

"Yes." I said, unable to nod because my horn was stuck in the wall.

"Are you ready to teleport?"

"Yes."

The white unicorn touched her horn to mine, and I felt my body dissolve. I appeared beside Moondancer as the Crystal Ring began to shake and rumble.

"It's going to explode!" screamed Applejack.

"Now, follow me as closely as you can. We must get out of here at once!" Moondancer shouted over the din.

The three of us raced up winding, twisting corridors. Upward, ever upward, the rumbling and shaking growing louder and more violent by the minute. As we ran, the light in the tunnels gradually increased, until the bioluminescent fungus was no longer needed to light our way in the dark. Finally, when a cave-in seemed imminent, we reached the surface. We quickly emerged and made our way through crowds of ponies until we stood well out of danger of being caught in the cave-in. The three of us anxiously watched the crumbling entrance for any sign of Firefly. The cave finally collapsed in a heap of rubble. As the stones settled, a sinking feeling crept over me. Where was Firefly?

* * *

My two friends were standing by the pile of rubble, looking at it despondently. I hovered nearby, totally unresponsive to anyone. Hours passed, and gradually the other ponies wandered off to find homes for themselves. But my friends and I kept silent vigil over the heap of rocks that had once been the opening to the underground world of the Chaoticals, refusing to give word to what we all feared. 

Applejack was first to break the silence. Looking up, she wiped her tear-stained face. "Well, we're free at last!" she said, trying to lighten the mood.

"Yah, but at what cost? We'll never see her again!" sniffed Moondancer, as she burst into tears again, "I almost wish we hadn't tried to escape (sniff), 'cause then F- F- Firefly would still be with us!"

"But then where would we be?" I asked, landing on the rock pile, "Still down there, being oppressed by Chaoticals." I said, answering my own question. "She gave her life for our freedom . . ." I trailed off, unable to finish my statement. I turned away from Applejack and Moondancer, and gazed off into the darkening forest, so that my friends wouldn't see the tears that were coursing down my cheeks.

"Amethyst's right. A truer friend there never was." said Applejack, "Firefly fought always for freedom, and finally gave her life so that her friends could live theirs in freedom and happiness. We need to pick ourselves up and live our lives the way that she would have wanted us to - free and happy. We shall never forget Firefly, the pony who gave her life so that her friends could live theirs in freedom and safety!" said Applejack, standing proudly on the rubble beside me.

Moondancer looked up at us. "I suppose you're right. Let this mountain of rock remain here as a monument to her bravery!" she said, climbing up to stand beside Applejack.

Suddenly, the rock pile began shaking again. "Whoa!" We shouted in unison, as we tumbled off onto the soft grass surrounding the mound.

"Let's get outa here!" cried Moondancer, "Hurry, before those rocks fall on us!"

"No, wait. I thought I saw something!" my companions looked at me quizzically. "There!" I said, pointing.

The rocks were indeed moving, but it looked like they were being pushed out from the inside. "Come on!" I shouted, as we raced up the pile to move the rocks away.

We dug feverishly at the rocks. Soon we had a small pile cleared away from a hole in the rubble. I pressed my eye to the hole, and strained to see inside.

"Oh, what's the use!" said Moondancer dejectedly, "We're just fooling ourselves. It's not her."

"Shhh," said Applejack and I simultaneously.

"Halloo . . ."Applejack called into the hole. I thought I heard a faint answering cough from within. All three of us then dug furiously at the rocks around the hole. Soon, it was big enough for Applejack to stick her forelegs and head inside. We pulled her back out, lest she fall in.

"Quick, Moondancer, get a rope!" Applejack told the unicorn.

"That won't be necessary, thank you." came a familiar voice from within the hole. Two pink hooves appeared on the rocks outside the hole, followed by a pink head framed in electric blue. Firefly extricated herself from the wreckage of the cave opening.

Moondancer, Applejack, and I stood in shocked surprise at the pony we had thought dead. Considering she had been buried alive, Firefly looked surprisingly healthy. She had come out of her ordeal with barely even a scratch to show for it!

"Eeeeeee! You're alive!" cried Moondancer as she tackled Firefly with a huge pony-hug.

"Gaaaa! I won't be for long if you don't stop strangling me like that!"

"Sorry."

"How did you escape that cave in?" I asked as we walked through the forest toward my new home.

"Only some of the caverns collapsed, thank the Rainbow . . . I was battling the Chaotical King when he and the other Chaoticals disappeared, just vanished into thin air! That Crystal Ring must have been their source of power. When the caves started collapsing, I knew I had to get to the surface, so I sped along the tunnel that led up and out as fast as my wings would take me. I wasn't fast enough though. When I got to the opening, it had already fallen in. I was trying to scrabble my way out when I was knocked out by a falling rock. The next thing I remember is hearing you three above me. I was about to call for help when I heard you giving those beautiful eulogies. I just had to stop and listen! Only when you started to leave did I try and escape that tomb."

"Wow," Applejack said, awed by the tale. "What an adventure!"

"What can I say, danger is my life!" shrugged Firefly.

The remark made us all burst out laughing.

"By the way Amethyst," Firefly said to me, "Is that what your symbol is supposed to be?"

"Er, what?" I said, taken completely by surprise.

"Your symbol; is it an amethyst crystal?"

I turned to look at my back. On my hindquarters glittered a beautiful purple crystal symbol. "Yea, I guess so. Why?"

"No reason." the conversation trailed off, and we walked in silence for a while.

"Amethyst?" Applejack asked.

"Yea?"

"Back in the cave, I heard you yell something about being the defender. What was that all about?"

"I . . . don't know." I remembered saying that, but I was mystified as to the meaning of the words.

It was then that we emerged from the trees into the bright sunlight. I gazed in open-mouthed wonder at the beautiful valley before us. Everywhere I looked, ponies were playing and frolicking in the lush grasses of the verdant meadow, or resting peacefully under spreading shade trees. The meadow was surrounded on three sides by majestic mountains and green, leafy woodlands. The fourth side of the grassy field sloped gradually down to a sandy beach, beyond which stretched an endless ocean. A babbling brook located at the edge of the meadow gurgled and laughed its way from the mountains down to the sea. Where the stream left the mountains and entered the valley, a mighty waterfall was seen crashing down in a tremendous spray of water.

In the center of the lush valley rose a magnificent castle painted a bright shade of pink. Blue turrets and a bright blue drawbridge contrasted nicely with the pink of the castle walls. The drawbridge rested across a deep, empty moat that surrounded the beautiful building.

I then looked up and gasped. I had never even seen the sky, let alone one so blue! White fluffy clouds floated lightly by on a gentle breeze as the sun shone down lovingly on the little valley. But the crowning glory was the magnificent Rainbow that arched brilliantly over the entire scene. I stood in awestruck wonder at the sight. No wonder all these ponies worshiped the Rainbow! It was absolutely breathtaking! Overwhelmed, I sat and stared.

"Oh, wow!" I said, my voice full of reverence.

The ponies in the field had seen us and were hurrying over as my friends and I stepped into the sunlight. A barrage of questions hit Firefly, Moondancer, and Applejack as we entered the valley.

"Firefly! Applejack! Moondancer!"

"Where have you been?"

"Firefly, what happened to you? It looks like you were caught in a cave-in."

"I was."

"What have you girls been eating? We can see your ribs!"

"Slimy, disgusting, tasteless gruel!" said Applejack, making a face.

"Yuck! Why would anyone eat that?"

"We had no choice," said Moondancer. "We were slaves."

"Slaves? Why?"

"It's a long story."

"We've got time."

Firefly sighed, and the entire story of our life in the caves poured out.

I had been sitting shyly at the edge of the forest during the whole exchange. I had lived my entire young life down in those caves; I felt slightly out of place in this beautiful world of sunshine and flowers. These new ponies were complete strangers to me, but my three friends obviously knew them well. I let them chatter on all they wanted, wondering if they'd ever notice the small purple pony who was sitting here by herself.

Suddenly, I heard someone say, "Hey Firefly, who's that?" I looked up sharply as ponies crowded around me, staring in astonishment at my wings and horn. "A winged unicorn?" said Medley, the green peg who had pointed me out in the first place. Her voice was full of disbelief.

Applejack came to my rescue as questions hammered me. "QUIET! We will explain everything. But first, back off and give us room, please. Can't you see you're making her nervous?"

Much shuffling of hooves was heard as the curious ponies backed away and formed a semicircle around my three friends and me.

Moondancer spoke. "The tale we told is true. This is the pony responsible for our freedom. She was born a slave in that gloomy cavern, but she found the courage to fight for our liberation. The four of us fought side by side to escape our captors, but she risked her life for our freedom. She is the only unicorn with wings in all of Ponyland. I believe that she was given both wings and a horn as an omen of greatness. The Rainbow chose her, out of all the slaves born in that underground world, to protect our way of life. Here's to Amethyst, The Chosen One!"

All the ponies gathered around us cheered; Firefly, Applejack, and Moondancer loudest of all. I blushed, my face the same color as a bright red beet.

I was given a hero's welcome. I thought to myself, _I did it! I escaped! _Mother would have been glad to see me as I frolicked in the bright sunlight and abundant, lush grasses of Dream Valley, my new home.

The End...'till next chapter...


	2. Adventure 2: The Ogres' Tower

Defender's Note: This is Amethyst's second adventure, and it takes place at the same time as "Rescue at Midnight Castle." This story is my reason Amethyst wasn't in that episode.

Also, Sundogs and the Skyland and all related concepts are (c) me, Violet Whirlwind. They may later be given a story of their own. Since this was written, they have been moved to a world of entirely my own creation, though nothing has been written of it yet.

* * *

Amethyst's Adventures #2: The Ogres' Tower

By Amethyst, Defender of Dreams

I sat alone in the cramped quarters of a dreary tower gazing sadly out the barred window at the forest below. Plum-colored mane falling limply across my violet shoulders, I recalled the events that had lead to my present predicament . . .

* * *

* * *

The day was bright and sunny as my friends and I relaxed under a great, spreading oak in the middle of Dream Valley. It had been exactly one year since our daring escape from the Chaoticals' subterranean realm of slavery. We were resting after a morning of exploring in the Emerald Forest that surrounded the valley on three sides. The pink castle, aptly named Dream Castle, rose cheerily before us.

"Ah this is the life!" Applejack said, sprawling on her back in the soft grass.

"Uh huh!" Firefly, Moondancer, and I agreed.

Suddenly, I stood up. "What in the name of the Rainbow is that!" I exclaimed as a strange animal came toward us. I squinted as I tried to make out what it was. The creature put forth a dazzling light; a light almost brighter than the sun. I had to look away to protect my eyes.

"Oh, here!" said Moondancer. Suddenly, I saw a pair of sunglasses resting on the grass before me. Moondancer apparently had the power to pull objects out of thin air. I put on the sunglasses and looked up.

The strange animal was much closer. While I still had to squint to see the beast, the sunglasses cut down on the glare so that I could at least look at it without going blind. The creature looked somewhat like a dog, with wild, yellow-white, flame-like fur sticking straight out all over its body. Its petite head was held high and proud with small, pointed ears that stood straight up. The animal had a ring-shaped stripe of bright green hair that curved around its neck and down along its front legs to meet at the center of its chest. I caught my breath as it turned its head in our direction. The dog-like animal's bright blue-white eyes burned with an intensity that exceeded by far that of the brightest shooting star in the sky!

"What is that?" I said again to Moondancer, who somehow seemed to know the beast who stood tall and proud before us.

Before she could answer, the strange creature spoke. His voice was like a crackling campfire. The creature spoke directly to the white unicorn beside me; he appeared not to notice the rest of us.

"I am called Suncrakl, ambassador of the Sundogs. We are in desparate need of your help, Moondancer."

"When I was but a small Sunpup, I chanced a Skyleap and landed on this island. When I tried to Skyleap back across the ocean, I lost control. I would have tumbled to my death in the watery ocean, but you rescued me with your magic. You sheltered me until I had regained enough strength to Skyleap home. You wouldn't remember rescuing me, for when I got home to the Skyland, the adult Sundogs sent a Memory Sprite to take that memory from you so that we would not be discovered and disturbed.

"Someone else discovered us, however. Several years ago, ogres invaded our Skyland. They pushed us out of our homes and built a powerful fortress where our Sunpups once frolicked in freedom. They tried to enslave us, but we hid in the deep pine forests where the ogres couldn't find us. We have continued to search for a way to rid the Skyland of its oppressors with little success.

"The Elders tried to stop me from seeking your help, but I came anyway. I knew that the only way to save our land was to ask for your help. Will you help us, Moondancer?" the Sundog asked my friend, despair showing in his beseeching blue eyes.

Moondancer looked uncomfortable. After several long minutes, she replied, "There have been rumors about a new threat to our own home. As much as I would like to help you, I must stay here and prepare for the worst. I am truly sorry."

Suncrakl looked so downcast that I was moved almost to tears. As he walked away dejectedly, I could barely here him mutter, "The Elders were right, it was wrong of me to come here."

Almost before I could stop myself, I blurted out, "Hey, wait! Suncrakl, I'll help you!"

The Sundog visibly grew brighter. He turned to me, apparently seeing me for the first time. "You will?" he asked, overjoyed.

"Sure!" I said, shooting Moondancer an icy look that to this day I'm not sure she saw.

"Oh thank you! Thank you!" Suncrakl yipped gleefully, "You won't regret it, I assure you!"

Later though, I did regret my hasty decision.

* * *

Panting heavily, I landed beside Suncrakl on the shores of the Skyland. It had been quite a chore keeping up with the energetic young Sundog as he leapt from cloud to cloud on the long trip to his island home in the clouds. I had never flown so far before. I looked around in wonder. This land of Sundogs was almost identical to my own home, except that it rested on a huge gray cloud high above the sparkling Endless Ocean. A strange magic kept the large island floating in the sky, hence the name Skyland.

Suncrakl followed my gaze to where the sandy beach met cloud. "Many centuries ago, our ancestors used their magic to lift this island from the ocean into the sky to protect us from harm. That cloud they placed it on was once as white as new-fallen snow. The ogres' evil presence has since tarnished it. Needless to say, our ancestors' attempt to keep us safe from harm has failed miserably." I heard the hopeless tone in his voice. Then he brightened. Literally. "But now that you're here, things are sure to get better!"

Somehow I doubted that.

"Come," Suncrakl said after an eerie pause. "We must move on. It is not safe to stay in the open for long. Ogres could be out patrolling this field at this very moment, looking for unsuspecting travelers like us."

* * *

Suncrakl led me through a deep, dark pine forest. The daylight hardly penetrated the thick foliage of the tall pine trees. I would easily have gotten lost were it not for Suncrakl, whose body shone like a lantern, leading me through the unfamiliar woodland. I had long since lost the sunglasses Moondancer had given me. The Skyland's magic somehow made it possible to look unaided at the Sundog without going blind. _Or maybe it's because the ogres' evil presence dims the Sundogs' light,_ I thought darkly to myself.

Suddenly, Suncrakl stopped, almost causing me to crash into him. He motioned for silence, and whispered to me, "Stay here. The Elders don't usually like strangers in the Skyland."

"But I'm here to help!"

"I know, but they won't like you here anyway, I need to persuade them that you are harmless."

Before I could say anything, Suncrakl had disappeared into the forest underbrush. As soon as he did so, I was left in complete darkness. This part of the forest was much more dense and wet than the forest we had been passing through. The canopy of the trees was so dense, in fact, that not a single patch of sunlight filtered through. The forest was dark, but strangely peaceful. There was a hush about the place, almost as if all the creatures that lived there were hiding, waiting for the Sundog elders' decision. How long I sat there in the dark, I do not know, for Iwas soonasleep.

* * *

I awoke to Suncrakl gently nudging me. "Come, quickly, before the Elders have a chance to change their minds."

Wordlessly, I followed him through thick bushes and vines. When we finally came to a sunny clearing, I was scratched and cut from the thick briars we had passed through. I stared, open-mouthed, at the unexpected clearing. Suncrakl grinned at my astounded expression.

"This is the only safe place left for us. We need the sunlight to survive, and this is the only safe place that we can get that sunlight. This meadow is virtually impossible to see from the forest. The thick thorn bushes that we just passed through completely encircle the clearing, making it invisible to most travelers. Even the most determined ogre search teams have been successfully turned away by the formidable jungle surrounding this clearing." Suncrakl glowed with triumph at the ingenuity of the Sundogs' secret hideaway.

I looked around. There were about thirty or so Sundogs, each with its own colored ring of neck fur, lounging in the bright sunlight of the clearing. A group of five Sundogs sat, proud and aloof, in the very center of the small meadow. They were surrounded by ten Sunpups, who, in turn, were surrounded by the rest of the Sundogs. At first, they did not appear to notice me.

Suncrakl nudged me into the open, and, almost at once, every adult Sundog became alert. I became very frightened as I looked from one set of bared teeth and angry, burning eyes to the next. They looked as though they would charge me at any moment. I closed my eyes, waiting for the inevitable. Nothing happened. I opened first one eye, then the other. Suncrakl stood in front of me, protecting me. The other Sundogs relaxed as one of the five in the center muttered a chastisement.

"Can't you see that's no ogre?" the Sundog Elder snapped at the young adults, who still regarded me with suspicion. To me she said, "Come forward young pony, I hear you have come to help us." Her voice was soft and gentle, yet held strength and authority.

I nodded nervously, unsure of what I should say, lest I offend the obviously powerful female Sundog. As I walked slowly forward, even though Suncrakl was walking right beside me, I felt extremely aprehensive. I could feel the distrustful eyes of the other Sundogs on me as I made my way up to their leaders.

As I stood shakily before the Five Elders, I could feel them silently judging me. After a few minutes of this, one of the Elders snorted and looked at Suncrakl, who was fidgeting nervously beside me. In a derisory tone, he criticized my companion. "This is the help you left to find? One small horse can't help us defeat ogres! You should know that by now!"

Nervous as I was, I drew myself up indignantly. "Sir, I mean no disrespect, but do I look like a horse to you?" I said, spreading my wings wide and looking the scarlet-ringed Sundog square in the face. I lowered my head so that my horn pointed directly at him.

Just as it looked like I was in for a nasty run-in with the snooty Elder, the female Elder stepped regally between us. Her violet neck-ring shone in the sun; the same color as my own body. She glared at the one with the scarlet ring. "Sollarl, you have no right to talk in such a manner. I hear that this young pony was born into slavery, but that she found the courage within herself to escape when she was not even full-grown. You expect everyone to bow before you just because you are an Elder. Sollarl, you are the youngest of the elders here. I am the oldest. My decisions take precedence over yours. It is my decision that we give our visitor a fair chance before making any more decisions."

The female Elder then turned to me, "So, you came to help us. I commend your bravery. My name is Solinari, leader and First Elder of the realm of the Sundogs." she said, then, after a pause, "What _used_ to be the realm of the Sundogs." She waved a paw indicating the thirty Sundogs gathered in the small meadow. "We are all that is left of a great civilization. We are now virtually prisoners in our own land." Solinari whispered, her voice and eyes full of pain.

Solinari told me that when the ogres had first appeared in a mysterious air-contraption, her people were in the middle of a Celebration of the Sun. The ogres had used their evil magic to cloud over the Sun, destroying at least three-fourths of the Sundog population. They had been involved in an all-important ceremony that, when interrupted, caused the death of those Sundogs who had been participating in it.

Solinari gave me an anguished look and whispered, "My daughter was -" she stopped.

"I understand." I said softly.

"Now all I have left is Suncrakl."

Suddenly, I knew why she had allowed Suncrakl to go for help. He was her son! Solinari appointed Suncrakl and another young Sundog, Solaflare as my bodyguards. I was allowed to stay the night in the clearing. The next day, before dawn, I was to begin my mission, which was to dethrone the Ogre Queen, Varula and drive the rest of the ogres out of the Skyland.

I had no idea how I would do it. How could one adolescent pony drive the Ogre Queen and her minions out without any help?

_Great Rainbow, help me.

* * *

Suncrakl and Solaflare woke me an hour before dawn. The three of us made our way silently through the darkened forest. Suncrakl and I left Solaflare at the edge of the forest. She waved goodbye, wishing me luck on my mission. Suncrakl and I continued in silence through the thickest, tallest grasses of the meadow. As we walked, I noticed that Suncrakl had flattened himself to the ground in order to hide our progress. Suddenly Suncrakl stopped, and I quickly followed suit._

"I must leave you now. It wouldn't be safe for me to accompany you further. My light would surely be seen. We would most definitely be captured, and then your mission would be in vain." He motioned toward the grasses in front of me, saying, and "The ogres' fortress lies just beyond these grasses. We will anxiously await your victorious return. You will be able to find Solaflare and me just inside the safety of the forest. Good luck and Sunny Skies to you, Amethyst."

With that, he crept silently back the way we had come. I watched him until his light had completely disappeared in the tall grasses. I was left alone in the moonlit meadow. Taking a deep breath, I stepped out of the protection of the tall plants. I gasped. The ogres' fortress loomed large and dark before me, an evil blemish on the otherwise beautiful landscape. I gulped.

_Oh Great Rainbow, _I thought,_ what have I gotten myself into?

* * *

_

With a shudder, I shook myself out of my daze and took my first hesitant steps toward the dark, imposing castle. I thought about my home in Dream Valley, and remembered the beautiful Dream Castle. This castle was completely different. I gulped again as I approached the imposing structure. I wondered how I, with my bright purple coloration, would be able to get inside without being noticed and captured.

Actually, I got in quite easily. To my good fortune the two ogre sentries at the gate were fast asleep when I arrived. I was able to slip inside the fortress without being discovered. I looked around. The entry hall was completely deserted. As Igazed at the eerie gothic interior, a creepy feeling that I was being watchedcrept over me. I ventured into a side passage, trying to think of a plan to drive the ogres out of the Skyland. I stepped into the cold, torch-lit, cobblestone passageway lost in thought.

That's when my luck ran out. A light appeared farther down the hallway, and I heard voices. Ogre voices. Coming toward me.

"Duh, did you see dat?"

"Garr, see what?"

"I thought I saw somting in da hall dere!"

"I dinnant see notin. What you talkin 'bout?"

"I know I saw dit. It was purpul."

Suddenly fear gripped me. They'd seen me. I hesitated, panicking. What should I do? Should I run? Stay put? My mind raced as I tried to control my panic and figure out what to do. The voices came closer. Suddenly, I bolted. I hid behind a grotesque sculpture, hoping the ogres would walk right past my hiding place without seeing me. No such luck.

"I know I saw dit dis time! Dit's o'er dere, be'ind dat sculpchur!"

"Darr, yer right! I saw dit! Let's git it! Won't da queen be pleased!"

"Ya, mebbe dit's one o' dem Sunny-doggies we's 'posed to catch!"

"If'n it is, we be rewarded!"

"Ya, mebbe we's even be promoted to capi-tancy!"

"YAH! LET'S GIT IT!" both ogres shouted as they thundered down the hall, heading right for my hiding place.

My heart was pounding in my head. If I were captured, what would happen to the Sundogs? I was their last hope! I couldn't afford to be caught! Yet, there was one thing I might be able to do. It was a long shot, and I was likely to get captured if I attempted it. But, hey, I would get caught anyway if I stayed in my hiding place. _What the heck_ I told myself,_ they already know where I'm hiding. It's better to go down fighting than cowering._

I charged from behind the statue, yelling at the top of my lungs,

"I am Amethyyyyyssst! I am the Defennnnderrrrr!"

_There it was again,_ I thought as I rammed right into the two ogres, _that bit about being the Defender._ I landed with a thump on my rear. I hadn't realized how massively burly the ogres were. Their sheer bulk alone had stopped my charge for freedom. I wondered why my horn hadn't done them any harm. Then I looked up at the ogres as they surrounded me, and my question was answered. The last thing I saw before I blacked out was the heavily armored ogres staring down at me with ugly, stupid eyes.

* * *

The next thing I knew, I was standing in chains before the Ogre Queen, Varula. _Hmm, _I thought, _This feels familiar. Déja vu. _Varula looked down at me with amused, evil eyes.

"What's this? A _pony?_ In the Skyland? I thought they only lived on that big island down on the _surface_." I heard the scornful tone in her voice. "Oh well, I suppose you're here to help those cowards, the Sundogs. Hmm, you could be useful. I know! I will use you to lure those peace-loving wimps here so that I can enslave them! Ha ha ha!"

"You fiend! That will never work! I refuse to help you lure the Sundogs here!" I shouted, turning my back on the Ogre Queen.

"Then you shall languish in the tower until you change your mind. Guards, take this pony to the tower and make sure she doesn't escape!"

"You won't get away with this!" I shouted as a final challenge to the evil Varula. The guards led me to the tallest tower in the fortress. They yanked and pushed me up the spiral staircase, and shoved me roughly into the tiny room at the top. The ogres clapped the shackles of a heavy iron ball and chain on my hind legs.

"You won't get away with this Varula!" I screamed again, defiant. The Ogre Queen laughed cruelly and slammed and bolted the massive iron door in my face. I stood there fuming for a few minutes, then, realizing that wasn't going to get me anywhere, I moved slowly to the barred window. I could barely make out something moving in the forest.

"SUNCRAKL!" I yelled at the top of my voice, "I have been captured! I cannot help you now! Go back to the hideout! The ogres will be out in force trying to capture you! You must not let them!" then, in a quieter voice, "I am sorry, I have failed you."

I felt terrible. I was a failure. I had failed in my mission. I had failed Suncrakl and his mother. I had failed the Sundogs, and I would probably never see home again. I flopped down and cried myself to sleep.

* * *

Bang! Bang!

I was startled out of my reverie. I turned in the direction the sound had come from. The voice of an ogre called to me from behind the iron door.

"Hey, you in there! Here's food." The door opened a crack, and a tall ogre entered. He was surprisingly thin for an ogre, and moved around the room with movements that were almost . . . _regal? _I stared in shock as he bent to place a tray full of glop in front of me. I looked up at him, unable to believe what I was seeing. His eyes were the strangest eyes I had ever seen in an ogre. I almost couldn't believe they belonged to such a creature! Those eyes held a high degree of intelligence, and . . . something else. It appeared to me that they held . . . _kindness? _No, it couldn't be. But it was! The tall ogre's eyes were kind and sympathetic. But..._how could that be?_

Unnerved, I looked down at the disgusting glop. I made a face. "I'm sorry, that's all they let me give you." whispered the strange ogre. My jaw dropped to the floor. Could it be? Did that ogre just _apologize _to me? I shook my head.

_This is a dream. It has to be a dream. I'm going to wake up now and find a cruel brute standing over me gloating, _I told myself. I poked myself with my horn, thinking I'd wake up.

"Oww!" I exclaimed. I looked up . . . and nearly fainted. That strange ogre was still there. Only now he was kneeling before me. He reached out a hand toward me. I shrank back, terrified.

"I'm not going to hurt you. Not all of us ogres are mean and nasty, you know." he said softly.

"But, but . . ." I stammered.

"Varula put me in charge of you so that she could keep an eye on me. My name is Darpayo. I am the son of the previous ogre king, who was kind-hearted. Varula killed him and took over the rule. I was just a small ogrechild then. When she took over the throne, Varula enslaved me. I worked in the kitchens for many years. When she took over the Sundog's Skyland, I decided that enough was enough. I vowed to regain the throne. Many of the kitchen slaves were formerly friends of my father, and we banded together and began planning to overthrow Varula. However, she found out about the plan. She crushed the rebellion before it could start, and separated me from my friends so that we couldn't rise up again. When you were discovered, she put me in charge of guarding you, so that I couldn't even visit with my friends, thus preventing any more rebellions on my part.

"Varula is greedy and power hungry . . . and conceited. That's why she wanted the Skyland, so she could look down on the rest of the world. She intends on someday ruling it all, I know it. I can't let that happen." he finished.

I looked at the tall ogre in amazement. There were tears in his non-ogre like eyes. "Why did you tell me this?" I asked quietly.

"I needed to tell somebody, and since you were sent here to save the Sundogs, I knew you wouldn't betray me. If you help me avenge my father by defeating Varula, I will help you escape. When I regain the throne, I will take the other ogres with me back to our own island. They will probably like it there better anyway. The Sundogs will again be free to frolic in their Skyland. Will you help me?"

"I will do the best I can. The reason I came here was to defeat Varula and set the Sundogs free anyway."

"Thank you, Amethyst. You don't know how much this means to me." Suddenly, a bell rang in the distance. Darpayo stood up. "I must go now, Varula will be suspicious if I'm not in the slave's mess hall by the time the second bell rings. I'm sorry about the . . . um . . . stuff you have to eat. I must keep you locked in here, this is not the time for rebellion. I will try to meet with the other rebels and tell them of the plan. Farewell." with that he left, and I was alone again in the tower. I sighed as I returned to the barred window.

_At least I have a good view of the sunset.

* * *

_

"Psst, Amethyst, can you hear me?"

Startled out of a troubled sleep, I stuck my head through the bars of the tower window and gazed down to where I had heard the familiar crackling voice. There, standing in plain view at the base of the tower, was Suncrakl.

"Suncrakl! You shouldn't be here! It's the middle of the night; you'll becaught for sure!" I exclaimed.

"I don't care! Are you all right? I heard your warning a few nights ago, and I couldn't just let you rot in there. I've come to break you out! Here, grab the end of the rope I'm going to throw to you!"

"Suncrakl, I can't! I have a mission, I . . ." I trailed off, thinking of my agreement with Darpayo.

"Forget the mission! You're my friend! I have to get you out! We can think of something else when you're free!"

"Wait, you don't understand . . ." I trailed off as I heard a commotion in the fortress. I withdrew from the window and turned to listen to the excited ogres. My eyes grew wide with fright. I turned back to Suncrakl. "You have to get out of here! They've seen you! They're going to catch you if you don't go now!"

Too late. Suncrakl fought with all his strength, but was soon subdued. I withdrew, unable to watch him being dragged away in chains. I hung my head in shame. Not only had I failed in my mission, but I also had unwittingly done what I had refused to do for Varula. I had, by my very imprisonment, lured Suncrakl to a life of slavery. I sank to the floor, weeping.

I had not wept long however, when my friend was shoved, snarling and snapping at ogres, into the tiny tower room with me. The ogres slammed the iron door just as Suncrakl lunged at them. He crashed against the door and went sprawling. Concerned, I shuffled my way -as quickly as I could manage with my ball and chain - over to him. Luckily he wasn't hurt. He got right back up and lunged at the door again. He did this repeatedly until, finally worn out, he collapsed panting on the cold stone floor.

"I'm sorry I got you into this mess." I whispered when he had recovered some.

"Why? It was my choice. I just couldn't sit indolently byin the hideaway while you were imprisoned here in this lonely tower. You're my friend; I had to _try_ to help you. Besides, it was my mess in the first place. I got you into it, and I felt I had to get you out.

"That miserable Varula! How she gloated when I was dragged into her throne room! She said that when the others were captured, she would put us all to work cleaning the dungeons. And to top it off, she told me that that's where we would live our lives! The nerve! She just wants to wipe us all out, I'm sure of it. Imagine! Sundogs living in the darkness of a dungeon! The very idea! That has to be the worst torture she could think up for us! We need the sunlight to survive! We would slowly weaken and die in the darkness of the dungeon!" Suncrakl fumed as he paced restlessly around the tower.

Like, well, a caged animal, Suncrakl paced about the small room for most of the day. He only calmed down at sunset, when the light of the setting sun came streaming into the tower. The light was radiant, and brightened my heart like the rays of hope. Suncrakl sat there, soaking up the light like nourishment, until the sun finally disappeared completely behind the mountains.

* * *

The next morning, I was awakened by a warning growl from Suncrakl. The iron door opened a crack, and the tall ogre stepped in. He exited hastily as Suncrakl snarled menacingly. Quickly, I stepped in front of Suncrakl and whispered to him, "Hey, its okay, he's a friend."

"But he's an Ogrrrrre!" growled Suncrakl.

"I know, but he's on our side."

I motioned the nervous Darpayo in. "Its okay, Suncrakl won't hurt you. Will you?" I said, turning to the apprehensive Sundog.

"No ogre is a good ogre." muttered Suncrakl, but he relaxed a bit.

"Suncrakl, this is Darpayo. He is here to help us." The tall ogre knelt as before and proffered his hand. He quickly withdrew as Suncrakl bared his teeth.

"I still don't trust him."

"I don't blame you. I wouldn't trust me either if I was in your position. But I really am here to help." said Darpayo. He then told Suncrakl the story of Varula's rise to power, and his own enslavement. After hearing the tale, Suncrakl finally began to trust the good ogre. The Sundog agreed to help him regain the throne, as long as Darpayo promised to leave the Skyland when Varula was defeated. Darpayo assured him that that was exactly what he had in mind.

* * *

After that, Darpayo, Suncrakl, and I would spend an hour or so each day visiting and trying to think of a plan for our escape and overthrow of Varula. However, each plan we came up with would be flawed in some major way, and we would have to start again. Darpayo would come in to check on us several times a day so that we could plan. He could only stay an hour or less each time, however, or Varula might think something was up.

In between visits, Suncrakl and I would talk wistfully about better days. However, as time went on, we began to get antsy. I would pace about randomly, stopping to stare longingly out the barred window for several minutes before continuing my restless pacing. I often found myself reminiscing about my days in the mines of the Chaoticals. I would find myself thinking that even that slavery was better than being cooped up in this tower night and day with nothing to do. To make matters worse, Suncrakl, too, had taken up pacing, and we would often bump into each other in our restless wanderings.

I sighed. Would I ever see home again?

* * *

One day, the three of us were sitting together brainstorming, as usual. Suncrakl was becoming impatient with the whole thing.

"Why don't we just take the place by storm one night while they are asleep? I'm tired of waiting! I want to go home!"

"Suncrakl, have you gone crazy! That will never work! If we did that, we'd be right back where we started, locked in here. And worse, Darpayo would be locked in here as well." I said, appalled at the stupidity and lack of forethought of the Sundog's desperate plan.

"Suncrakl, Amethyst's right. That plan would only get us in more trouble than we already are in."

"You're right, of course. I just wish I was back in the clearing and could forget this whole thing. It's no use, we'll never be free from Varula's evil rule." Suncrakl said resignedly.

"Wait a minute!" I said, "I just had an idea! Suncrakl, you once said something about a Memory Sprite. What exactly is that?"

"Well," he said, taken by surprise, "I not really allowed to tell anyone, especially not ogresbut . . ." Suncrakl looked at Darpayo for a time before continuing. "Memory Sprites are tiny pixie-like creatures that have the ability to make creatures forget things. We Sundogs have an alliance with them; we can Call them and bid them make a target forget something. Hmm . . ." the Sundog looked thoughtful. "I think I understand now . . ."

"THAT'S IT!" I shouted, jumping to my feet and fluttering my wings excitedly. "We'll use the Memory Sprites to make the guards forget whom they are serving! Then they can help us overthrow Varula! They want to return to their own home anyway, right Darpayo?" He nodded. "It's perfect . . . Suncrakl, you _can _call the Memory Sprites, right?"

"I think so. I mean, I've never done it before, but every Sundog learns to Call them; I think we're born with the ability. Anyway, what have we got to lose?"

* * *

Suncrakl spent the rest of the day, and all night, sitting silently at the window, Calling.

The next morning, I was awakened by a tiny whispering tickle that danced across my wing. I sat up. Suncrakl sat by the window while tiny pinpricks of light danced around him. He sat stone-still with eyes closed for what felt like hours as the tiny motes swirled about his shoulders. I gazed at him in wonder.

Finally, he turned to me. "The Memory Sprites have agreed to help us! Since Darpayo and the other ogreslaves are already on our side, the Memory Sprites have agreed to leave them alone. Now, as soon as Darpayo gets here, we can begin the escape!"

"Suncrakl, wait. We will need to wait until the ogres are asleep. The Memory Sprites won't be able to affect the ogres who are out searching the meadow and forest for Sundogs." I warned him.

"Oh, yeah. I forgot." he said grinning. We looked at each other and burst out laughing.

* * *

When Darpayo came in later that day, Suncrakl told him the good news.

"That's great! So the escape is on for tonight?"

"That's right." I said. "As soon as Varula is asleep, come up here and wait while Suncrakl releases the Memory Sprites to their task. You will have the kitchen slaves ready?" I asked.

Darpayo nodded and hurried off when the far-off bell tolled.

I sighed and made my way over to the window. All that remained to do was to wait for nightfall.

_Great Rainbow _I thought, _Let us be successful tonight and I will be eternally grateful.

* * *

_

Suncrakl and I waited anxiously as the sun set outside the tower window. The minutes crawled by as we waited for Darpayo to return with his followers. As the night wore on, the Memory Sprites became impatient. It was all the Sundog could do to keep them from giving up and leaving.

After several hours of tense waiting, Suncrakl asked in a worried tone, "Do you think he'll come? What if he was Varula's spy, sent to learn valuable information from her prisoners?"

"Suncrakl!" I admonished, "How could you think such a thing!" I shuddered, as I thought what might happen to us if that was the case. _No! Amethyst, don't think like that! Darpayo would never betray us!_ I told myself. Still, the Sundog had got me worrying. "Thanks a lot, Suncrakl." I muttered under my breath.

"Well he _is_ an ogre." shrugged Suncrakl.

Suddenly, I heard the sound of a key turning in a lock. The heavy, iron door opened wide as Darpayo entered, slightly out of breath. When he had recovered a bit, he motioned to someone outside the door. Several other ogres entered. Lean and gaunt, they were obviously slaves. When they were all inside the tower, Darpayo carefully made sure the door was left ajar, so we could escape at a moment's notice.

I looked at the reinforcements Darpayo had brought with him. Five weak-looking ogreslaves stood trembling before Suncrakl and me. Darpayo shrugged, "These five are the only ones that were willing to join. I'm sorry there aren't more of us."

"We can use all the help we can get." I said. "Besides, the Memory Sprites will help make more ogres change to our side."

Darpayo knelt to unchain Suncrakl, then did the same for me. As soon as we were free of the chains, I flew to the ceiling, stretching my wings. They were stiff from the many days of disuse in the cramped tower. Flying also relieved to some extent the congested feeling that came from eight creatures crammed in the tiny tower cell. "Suncrakl, release the Memory Sprites!" I called down to the Sundog below me.

The glittering cloud that had been slowly swirling around Suncrakl immediately dispersed and rushed down the steps, laughing and chittering excitedly. The rest of us waited only a few minutes before charging silently down the spiral staircase after them. When we reached the main hall, my heart leapt into my throat. There were thousands of ogres standing throughout the immense room. I almost bolted when Suncrakl tapped my shoulder with his paw.

"Amethyst, it's just me. They won't bother us. See?" he pointed to the closest ogre. Its eyes were closed, and its mouth hung open. Around its head darted a tiny point of light; a Memory Sprite. Heaving a great sigh of relief, I relaxed.

"Come on, we have to find the Ogre Queen." I whispered, not wanting to say Varula's name for fear that it would bring the ogres' memory back.

Darpayo led us down an ornate hallway that I suspected led to Varula's bed chamber. As we walked, the amnesiac ogres followed dumbly. The farther down the passage we went, the darker it became. Soon, Suncrakl's light was the only thing that kept us from crashing into the walls as the passage twisted and wound its way into deeper darkness.

Darpayo stopped outside the entrance to Varula's sleeping chamber. He placed his ear against the great double doors and waited for a sound from within. When none came, he slowly opened the huge, intricately carved wooden doors. We stepped inside, only to find Varula awake and staring at us. Darpayo, Suncrakl, and I dove for the door. When we reached it, however, Varula barred our escape route.

Evil eyes flashing, she laughed cruelly. "So you thought you could turn all my soldiers against me, huh? You were wrong."

Panicked, I looked at the other ogres. While they weren't advancing on us as I had feared, they weren't turning on Varula, either. The ogres just stood there dumbly, their mouths hanging open. _Oh no!_ I thought, _My plan isn't working! The Memory Sprites were supposed to make the ogres forget whose side they were on, not make them utterly useless!_

Just when I thought the situation couldn't get any worse, it did. The Memory Sprites gave up on the ogres and disappeared. The ogres began closing in on my friends and me. At the door, Varula laughed insanely. "The gig is up. You are my prisoners, and you will remain my prisoners for the rest of your miserable little lives! Ha ha ha!"

"Suncrakl, Call back the Memory Sprites! It's our only hope!" I shouted.

"I'm trying, but they won't listen to me!"

_Oh no! Great Rainbow save us!_ I silently begged.

* * *

Just as the ogres were about to throw the eight of us in chains again, the Great Rainbow sent us a miracle! A great howling was heard coming down the hallway. The Memory Sprites shot into the chamber and resumed their positions about the heads of the ogre guards. The guards again forgot where they were, and were once again dumb statues. Suddenly, Varula's ink-black bedchamber was flooded with light! Eighteen Sundogs burst into the room, teeth bared. Varula had retreated to the darkest corner of the room, but was soon discovered. Suncrakl and the others leapt at her throat. I had to look away from the gory scene.

When the evil Varula was no more than a pile of blackened ashes, Suncrakl rejoined me. He smiled apologetically. "Amethyst, I'm sorry you had to see that."

"That's okay. She had it coming to her."

"We have always been peaceful creatures, and Varula took advantage of that. I don't know how they did it, but the Memory Sprites must have somehow convinced the others to finally take a stand. We should have done that a long time ago!" my friend said ecstatically as we made our way out of the dark castle.

Once we were outside, the Sundogs surrounded the dark castle. They closed their eyes, and the building began to glow brightly. I watched, amazed, as what was once Varula's fortress was transformed right before my eyes. Now it stood shining a brilliant white with yellow accents. It reminded me of our own Dream Castle back at home. Suddenly, I suffered a stab of homesickness. I was anxious to see how my friends were faring.

However, I couldn't go home quite yet. I had to see Darpayo and the other ogres off on their journey, and wish the tall ogre luck in his new life. The Sundogs and I waved farewell to them as they floated off in their mysterious flying machine. After they had vanished from sight, there was a moment of complete silence, then a great cheer arose from the amassed Sundogs. Suncrakl and I were hailed as heroes, and escorted to the clearing in the forest among a great deal of singing and cheering.

When we arrived at the clearing, the Sundogs began preparing a great festival in honor of Suncrakl and me. Though I was anxious to return home, (I remembered Moondancer mentioning something about a threat to Ponyland.) I knew I had to stay for the celebration. After all, I _had_ played a major part in the liberation of the Skyland.

The festivities lasted long into the night. I was stuffed and nearly asleep when First Elder Solinari stood and silenced the rejoicing Sundogs. She motioned to Suncrakl and me. We stood and made our way up to where she stood in front of the other Elders. She looked down at me gratefully. When she spoke, her body shone with a radiance rivaled only by the sun itself!

"Amethyst, we are honored by your brave deeds. If it weren't for you, we might never have found the courage to fight for our Skyland's freedom. Your noble deeds have given us much more than our freedom. Peace is still preferable over war, but we Sundogs now know that when danger strikes, we must not be afraid to fight for our families and our freedom. You are a true hero, and we would be honored if you decided to stay as our hero and make our Skyland your home. We are forever in your debt!"

"Thank you for your generous offer, but tomorrow I must return to my home. Besides, I think you have a perfectly good hero here already! If it weren't for Suncrakl, I would never have come here, and you would all still be living under Varula's oppression." I said, looking at my blushing companion.

"Um, well, it was really nothing . . ."

Solaflare stood then. Dramatically, she leapt onto the table that was spread with food. Her bright blue neck ring glinted in the light put forth by the other Sundogs. "Amethyst's right, and I, for one, nominate Suncrakl to be our protector!"

Solinari called out in her most official voice, "All those in favor please stand!"

As I stood, I looked around. Not a single creature was still seated. I smiled as Suncrakl blushed even more. Solaflare leapt down and trotted over to where Suncrakl stood beside me. She nuzzled him as the assembled Sundogs cheered.

* * *

The next day, there were tears in my eyes as I prepared to leave for home. Though I was anxious to return to Ponyland, I had become good friends with Suncrakl and the other Sundogs, and I hated saying goodbye to them. But they now had a castle that they could call home and use as a defense against intruders, as well as their own hero to protect them from harm. I was no longer needed in the Skyland, and my friends were probably worried about me.

I approached the edge of the Skyland and looked back. All the Sundogs had followed to bid me farewell. Suncrakl stood in front of the others, a medallion around his neck. I ran to hug him one final time. After we had said our goodbyes, Solinari walked forward and bowed before me.

"We are eternally grateful to you for your brave and selfless act. In our gratitude, we present you with this." She held out a bright gold-colored stone. "It is called the Sun Agate. If you ever need us to come to your aid, just rub the stone, and we'll be there. Farewell, Amethyst, and thank you."

With that they sent me on my way. As I leapt off the cloud that held up the Skyland, I noticed that it had turned a brilliant white. I smiled as I flew gracefully down to the island my friends and I called home. I landed on the soft grass outside Dream Castle as my friends came running.

"Amethyst, what happened! You were gone more than a week!" exclaimed Applejack.

"Driving out ogres is harder than it sounds! I'll tell you about it later."

Suddenly, a young lavender earth pony ran up to me. I noticed she didn't have a symbol.

"I had an adventure too!" she said before running off again.

"Who's that?" I asked.

"That's Ember. She was born shortly after you left. Boy, you missed quite an adventure!" said Firefly.

She then told me all that had happened after I left to help the Sundogs.

"Wow!" I exclaimed, "I'd rather face ten Varulas than that Tirak character you described!"

"You didn't have to. I did." Firefly said grinning.

"Where's this human you were talking about?" I said, looking around.

"You mean Megan? I just returned from taking her home. I'm sure you'll get to meet her sooner or later, though." she said as we made our way into the castle.

I sighed. It was good to be home.

The End...for now...

Author's note: There is another chapter still in the works, and MUCH more somewhere in my head, but Sense of Serenity has been controling my mind recently, and thats a LONG one...Which I will get back to presently...


	3. Adventure 3:The Forest of Despair

Amethyst's Adventures #3: The Forest of Despair

By Amethyst, Defender of Dreams

Defender's Note: This story takes place sometime after MLP, the Movie. (Don't ask me where the Defender was during Escape from Catrina or The Movie; I'm not really sure myself! I was probably off on a diplomatic mission to one of the other islands in the Endless Ocean. Either that or I was visiting the Sundogs. Anyway . . .) This adventure is the one in which the Defender gains her title and meets the human heroine Firefly is always talking about. _There I go again, talking about myself in third person, er, pony. Oh well . . ._ on with the story!

Defender's note #2: Warning...this chapter gets a bit dark later. I tried to keep it from being TOO bad...but...

* * *

It was a hot day in Prisma. (Not surprising, considering our island's climate is tropical. Now, where was I? . . .Oh, yeah . . .) I was resting, sleeping away the heat of the day, on the branch of a tall apple tree. Well, trying to sleep, anyway. Applejack kept waking me up with requests for me to throw her down an apple or two.

"Hey, Amethyst, could you please get me another one? I'm still hungry."

I sighed, rolling my eyes and kicking a nearby branch half-heartedly. "Here, take half a dozen." I said as ripe apples fell from the branch I had kicked.

"Thanks!"

"No problem." What was I saying? Of course it was a problem! I wanted to sleep, but my friend's constant badgering was starting to really get on my nerves. _You just HAD to pick an apple tree to nap in, didn't you? _I thought to myself sarcastically.

I fervently wished for some diversion that would make Applejack stop pestering me. Just as I thought this, it started raining. _That works, _I thought as the other ponies headed for the shelter of the castle. I stayed in the tree, thinking, _Finally! Now I can get some rest without Applejack butting in every two seconds. _The rainstorm was one of those gentle tropical drizzles that seemed to emit a restful feeling. I sighed and lay back down on the branch. Listening to the rain gently falling on the leaves of the apple tree, I closed my eyes and was soon sleeping soundly.

* * *

I awoke to the soft swaying of the tree branch beneath me. Without opening my eyes, I stretched and sat up. As I did so, my head hit something hard. _That's odd, _I thought, _there weren't any branches that close to my head when I went to sleep. Hmm . . ._

"All right," I said, rubbing my head and opening my eyes, "Who's the practical jok-" I stopped. Something wasn't right. I was no longer on the branch of an apple tree in Dream Valley. I was in a cage! The swaying motion came from the fact that my cage was hanging from the branch of a very tall pine tree.

"Where am I?" I shouted. I spun around the cage in a panic, making it sway dizzyingly.

"Amethyst, calm down!" came a familiar voice. "You're acting just like Shady!" exclaimed Applejack from a nearby cage on my right.

"Hey! I heard that!" protested a hot pink earth pony in a cage directly beneath Applejack.

I forced myself to calm down. I didn't want my friend to think I was quick to panic.

I looked around. Everywhere I looked, there were trees laden with caged ponies. Winding between the giant pines were wooden pathways, covered with roofs of thatch. I looked down, and was amazed at the fact that I could hardly see the forest floor for the mist that swirled around the tree trunks. However, I did see that the columns of cages continued down the length of the trees almost to the ground. Some cages were empty, but most held one pony each. Babies were placed two to a cage.

"How did I get here?" I asked.

"No one knows. The last thing I can remember is heading into the castle when it started raining. Everyone started falling asleep, including myself, and the next thing any of us remember is waking up here." I turned at the familiar voice of Firefly. She was in a cage slightly above and to the left of me.

"Does anyone know who our captors are?" I asked.

"They're coming this way right now." replied Moondancer from another cage on my left. She pointed to a group of creatures approaching on one of the wooden walkways. As they got closer, we could see that they were transporting an unconscious blue pegasus. Her light pink mane and tail fluttered limply in the chilly breeze that had suddenly picked up. The creatures, definitely troll-like in appearance, not-so-gently placed the senseless peg in the cage beneath mine. As soon as she was in, they slammed the door. My friends and I stared in shock.

"How could they? What did we do to deserve this?" I heard Applejack whisper to herself.

"Who are you, and why are you holding us?" I asked the nearest troll, sounding much braver than I felt.

"None of your business!" snapped the troll.

"Excuse me, _troll_," said Firefly, her voice low and dangerous, "but since we're the ones in the cages, I think it is _very much _our business!" she growled, glaring at the troll.

"Humph!" was all the surly creature would say. He turned and walked away huffily.

Suddenly, a new voice was heard, that of the blue peg below me. Her voice was small and weak from the magical sleep she had just awoken from. Nonetheless, the new arrival's voice sounded incredibly well educated, and held a high degree of self-importance.

"I demand to know the rationale behind my unforeseen incarceration!"

"That's Wind Whistler." Firefly said in answer to my puzzled expression.

"Does she always talk like that?"

"Yeah, and quite frankly, some of us are getting tired of it!" said a masculine voice from above Applejack. I looked up to see a steel blue unicorn with a rainbow mane looking down at me. His eyes portrayed weariness and his voice was resigned, as if he was used to living a captive life. I had seen that look before, on the faces of the Chaoticals' slaves.

"Oh, lighten up, Moonstone! You always find something wrong with everybody!" said Applejack, sounding annoyed.

"I can't help it! I've been here so long, I've forgotten what happiness is. Besides, living life in a cage is _so_ depressing!"

"I don't understand," I said, puzzled, "If you've been here your whole life, how can you already be tired of the way Wind Whistler talks, when she was obviously just captured?" I asked Moonstone.

"I haven't been here my whole life. When I was younger, I was a slave in a gloomy cavern where the sun never shines. Maybe you've heard of it, it was run by a bunch of weird, shape-shifting creatures. . ."

"Chaoticals!"

"Yup, that's them," Moonstone's eyes opened wide in surprise. "How did you know?"

"I, myself, was born into their dark world of slavery."

"Really?"

"Yeah, but I'd rather not talk about it."

"Understandable. Anyway, Whistler here was chained next to me for a time, and I grew bored of listening to her prattle."

"HEY! I do not appreciate the implication you have attached to my mode of conversing!" Wind Whistler protested.

"Ahem. Yes, well. . . Anyway, after several years of slavery, Whistler decided to escape. I don't know whether she was successful, because shortly after that, the Chaoticals decided to sell me. I've lived here ever since."

My friends and I looked sadly at the rainbow-maned stallion. "You mean you've never known freedom?" I asked, thinking of my own past (which I wanted to forget, but couldn't).

"Oh I was free once," Moonstone said wistfully, "I can't remember much of my free life, though. I was very young when I was captured, not even one year old. Listen, I really don't feel like talking about it anymore, okay?" Without waiting for an answer, the unicorn turned around and went to sleep.

_Poor guy,_ I thought, _and I thought I had it rough!_

* * *

The next morning, I awoke hungry. I hadn't had anything to eat since I was captured.

I looked around, and remembered where I was. Most of the other prisoners were still asleep in their cages. I explored my tiny cage, searching for something edible. I was expecting a bowl full of gruel. What I found was a little different.

"HEY!" I exclaimed, dismayed.

"Huh? . . ."said Firefly sleepily, "Amethyst, what's wrong?" she asked, sitting up.

"They want us to eat hay? What do those trolls take us for, livestock?"

"Precisely."

"YIE!" I shouted as I leapt into the air. Big mistake. I sat down, rubbing my injured head and glaring at the troll, who was smirking at me.

"Hay is the only thing you're gong to eat for a long time, pony. Oh, wait . . . it's the only thing you're going to eat for the rest of your life! Ha, ha! And, considering you ponies live forever, that will be a very long time, indeed! Hee, hee!"

"Oh stop gloating and tell us what you were sent here to tell us!" Firefly said exasperatedly.

"Tell? I wasn't sent here to _tell _you anything." said the troll haughtily, "I was sent to bring the royals three samples of our stock."

I didn't like the way he said that. Just then, there was movement from Moonstone's cage.

"What's going on?" he asked sleepily.

"Oh nothing. This annoying troll just decided to come here and start pestering us." said Firefly irritably.

"Ah, good. Now I don't have to wake any more prisoners. I'll just take you three!" said the troll, as he threw a chain around my neck.

A few minutes later, the troll led Firefly, Moonstone, and me out of a wooden elevator. I looked around. We were walking on a cold cement pathway on the forest floor. All around me, I saw the gigantic trunks of the cage-bearing pines. However, that's all I could see, since the heavy morning mist obscured all else. Suddenly, a huge palace materialized out of the mist. I had no idea how the trolls had built a palace of such an enormous size in the middle of that forest. The troll led us into the palace and toward a set of colossal double doors. Firefly tugged and struggled against her chains the whole way, protesting loudly.

"You monster! What do you hope to gain by this? I refuse to be a slave!"

"Firefly," I said softly, "I think we should see what these "royals" are like before we jump to any conclusions. We don't even know what they want of us!"

"Amethyst, they put us in cages and called us _livestock! _What more proof do you need?" she cried. "I refuse to be a slave!" she shouted again.

"Good point." I said to myself.

"You will do whatever our royals say you will." said the troll simply.

"I will not!" Firefly stated adamantly, stamping her hoof angrily.

"Firefly, is that you?" I was startled by a voice from beneath us. Looking around, I discovered that I was standing on a metal grate in the palace floor. I carefully stepped off and looked back up at Firefly curiously. With a mighty yank, she pulled the chain (which we were all attached to) out of the troll's grasp before he could take us any farther down the hallway. With a well-placed kick from her hind legs, she was able to knock him senseless.

"Firefly, HAVE YOU GONE CRAZY? That stunt is likely to get us all thrown into solitary confinement!" said Moonstone angrily.

"Oh hush! Danger is my life, and you know it!" Firefly said loudly as we turned back to the floor grate. She knelt before the steel grate, tears welling up in her eyes. "No. No, no, no, no, no!" she whimpered.

I looked down. Through the bars of the grate, I could just barely see a slender figure inside a tiny, concrete cell. _So that's what a human looks like…! _I thought to myself absently.

She had long, straight blond hair, and - as far as I could tell in the dim light of her cell - was wearing a grimy white T-shirt and jeans. Her clothes were torn and riddled with holes. From Firefly's reaction, I figured that this must be the human she had told me about, Megan.

"No, it can't be . . . You were our last hope! What happened?" Firefly spoke into the grate, her voice filled with despair.

"When Whistler landed in the field near my home, I could see the worried expression in her eyes, and I knew something wasn't right. Throughout our flight, she had a hard time staying awake. It was all the two of us put together could do to keep her from falling asleep and crashing to the ground. Almost as soon as we were back on solid ground, she had collapsed, and was soon fast asleep. I knew something fishy was going on when I, too, began to fall asleep. I tried to stay awake to protect her from the mysterious magic, but I couldn't. The last thing I remember is waking up here." said the girl, indicating the cell she was in.

"Amethyst, we've got to get her out of here!" cried Firefly, turning to me.

"I'll be fine, but I think you should hide before that troll wakes up." said Megan.

Instinctively, we turned. We were just in time to see the burly troll come to. He stood, putting a hairy hand on his head. He looked up, glaring at Firefly.

"Uh oh . . ." started Moonstone.

"RUN!" Firefly screamed. She and I took off down the hall, heading for the doors that would lead us out of the palace. We didn't get very far, however. We were brought to a jarring halt as we reached the end of the chain. Picking ourselves up, we looked back to see what had halted our mad dash for freedom. Moonstone stood there with his head bowed; his eyes held a sad, hopeless expression.

"Moonstone, come on!" shouted Firefly as she looked nervously at the advancing troll.

No response.

"Moonstone! Come on! We have to get out of here!" I shouted, looking at the despondent blue-gray unicorn.

Still no response.

"MOONSTONE!" Firefly and I yelled in unison. We both eyed the angry troll fearfully. He was getting closer by the minute.

"What's the use? They're just gonna catch us again. Why fight it? It'll just make the punishment that much harder." mumbled the rainbow-haired uni as he stared despairingly at the floor.

"MOONSTONE! COME ON!" Despite our pleading and tugging at the chain, the unicorn stallion wouldn't budge. The troll was almost upon us, and he was MAD!

"It's no use! Why must you make it so difficult? Why can't you just accept your fate, like I have?"

"MOONSTONE! RUN! We have to get away, NOW!" Too late. Growling, the troll snatched our chains, and roughly yanked on them, hard. Firefly and I fell, sprawling, to the ground.

"Get up!" the brute snarled, kicking Firefly hard in the ribs.

Immediately, she jumped up, bristling. "Oww! Watch it, buster!" she shouted, glowering.

I could tell she was about to do something rash and foolish. "Come on, Firefly," I said quietly, "give it a rest. He's not worth it."

"You're right, Amethyst. That troll isn't worth the effort it would take to fight him."

_Not to mention, he'd probably knock you silly._ I thought, but said nothing.

"I guess we'll just have to wait to escape, huh?" Firefly whispered to me as we were once again led toward the double doors at the end of the hallway.

I nodded. I knew that rushing the palace doors had been a bad idea, but it had seemed an easy shot at freedom at the time. Oh well . . . live and learn.

* * *

The massive wooden doors opened slowly, revealing a dimly-lit throne room. Nervously, we followed the troll inside. Firefly and I exchanged glances, wondering the same thing: who were these 'royals,' and what did they have planned for us? We found out soon enough. I began to wish we hadn't.

"Bring them here." huffed a snooty female voice.

I gulped visibly and looked at my friends. Firefly, who had so recently been full of spunk and fighting spirit, was now trembling fretfully beside me. Moonstone simply hung his head defeatedly.

"They're gonna eat us, you know." His voice was flat and emotionless, as if the statement was a fact of life no one could do anything about. He apparently couldn't care less either way.

Firefly and I looked at him in horror. "Don't say that!"

"Well, it's true," he said, scuffing his hoof despondently along the marble floor, "When I was younger-"

"Silence in the throne room!" Moonstone's statement was cut short as a troll herald bellowed out in a loud, officious voice, "Bring the specimens forward!"

I did NOT like the way he said that. Firefly and I both balked when our troll guard tugged on the chain.

"I don't know why you insist on fighting," Moonstone said glumly, walking forward placidly. "It'll just make it that much harder in the end."

"I don't like your attitude, Moonstone." grumbled Firefly irritably.

I had to agree with her. The blue-gray stallion's hopelessness was starting to get on my nerves as well.

We soon found ourselves standing before the troll royals - very powerful-looking creatures who each wore extremely scornful looks on their hard, knarled, heavily-horned faces.

"May I present their royal majesties, Queen Gleila and her three sons, Prince Darkmoor, Prince Moonblood, and Prince Wraithwisp, high rulers of Nightmare Island and all who dwell within, and soon to be rulers of Prisma..." droned the herald.

"Or rather, Troll Realm..." commented Prince Moonblood, deliberately loud enough for us to hear.

Beside me, I felt Firefly quivering with held-back rage. "Over my dead body..." she growled. Then, turning to me, "I don't know why that herald even bothers," she snorted, "_Prisoners_ don't need introductions..." she whispered, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Silence!" yelled the herald ineffectually as Firefly and I whispered amongst ourselves.

"Uh, girls..." started Moonstone apprehensively, "I don't think that's wise..." he trailed off as Firefly made some snide remark about the royals that made me nicker.

"Silence!"

"That word's not gonna subdue us," Firefly quipped quietly to me. "Tirak tried that, and look where it got him!"

"Hee hee. Firefly, I don't think this is - giggle - a good idea!" I whispered back, indicating the darkening looks on the royals' faces. The herald was beginning to get flustered as he shouted for silence a third time. We continued to giggle disrespectfully. _Heck, these trolls aren't treating us like anything more than mere livestock, so why __**should**__ we respect them?_ I thought, trying unsuccessfully to justify our actions.

"Silence!"

Our laughter only got louder. I knew this would probably get us in big trouble, but...

"Firefly, Amethyst...I think you should stop."

"Oh would you relax, Moonstone?" Firefly blurted out, "Get a life!"

"I have one, and if you value yours, I think you'd better stop your silliness!" the unicorn stallion whispered urgently.

"_Silence!" _By this time, the troll herald sounded quite peeved. I looked at the royals nervously. The queen looked positively livid, as did two of her sons. The other prince just looked bored.

I turned to Firefly. "This time I agree with Moonstone. I think we should stop before we get in more trouble than we already are in."

"Okay, okay. You're probably right, Amethyst. I trust your judgment. After all, you were the one who got us out of that cave of slavery." Firefly relented as I blushed.

"_**ENOUGH! **_Insubordinance will not be tolerated! You will stop this nonsense immediately, or you will both go into the PEAS!" the queen screeched angrily.

Firefly and I exchanged apprehensive glances. I knew I would regret asking, but my curiosity had gotten the best of me. "The PEAS?" I repeated, quirking an eyebrow, trying not to nicker at the ridiculous-sounding acronym.

"The Pit of Eternal Agonizing Screams. I'm sure you'd enjoy it immensely...Not!" Prince Wraithwisp said, that bored expression still on his face.

"Okay, you royal pain in the ponyfeathers-"

"Firefly..." I warned.

"-what's the deal? Why'd you drag us here? And why are you holding our friend Megan prisoner? I want answers!

"It's not right," she said, taking on a more pleading tone, "What'd she do to you? What'd _WE_ do, for that matter?"

"Nothing."

"Then why the heck are we prisoners?" the pink peg exclaimed exasperatedly.

"You really want to know?" asked Wraithwisp.

"YES!" Firefly and I exclaimed in unison.

"The human will make an excellent slave." Queen Gleila explained, her voice a self-satisfied snooty whine, "We intend to take our rightful place on the island you have called home for many years, using your young ones as slaves to till the useless meadows, turning them into miles of cropland on which we can grow our sorrowort and slaveweed plants. Then we shall cut down your forests and use them as timber and fuel for the fortress we will build on the razed ground where your 'Dream Castle' is standing now. If any escape our evil empire, they will be mercilessly hunted down and-" Gleila stopped, and looked pointedly at us. "Well, you pacifists probably don't want to know the gory details."

"You are…so…EVIL!" I exclaimed, lamely, momentarily unable to find any more eloquent words.

"Why thank you!" she said, a little too sweetly, an extremely unpleasant smile plastered on her twisted face. "However, flattery will get you nowhere. Yes, we shall, in your worthless views, 'ruin' your homeland. But it will be for the betterment of all the trolls from Nightmare Island. As for you and your two friends..." she trailed off.

"Ask your friend Moonstone here." interjected Prince Darkmoor sinisterly, "He knows."

Firefly and I both looked at the dejected stallion expectantly.

"You don't want to know."

"Yeah we do!" exclaimed the pink peg beside me.

"Well, okay. But not here. I'll tell you back in the cages."

"Put them away." the queen told our guard. "These two aren't ready yet. The stallion, on the other claw, is almost ready, but there is one thing left for him to do."

With those cryptic words, we were dismissed and led back to our cages to learn the secret of our imprisonment.

* * *

Firefly ruffled her carnation-colored wings impatiently. "Come on, you exasperating unicorn, spit it out!"

"I, um...You _**really**_ don't want to know." replied Moonstone, shifting uneasily in his cage, avoiding the issue.

"Yes we do!" countered my impatient friend.

"Firefly please!" I admonished. "It's obviously something he's having real trouble bringing himself to talk about." To the rainbow-maned stallion I soothingly said, "It can't be that bad. Just say it. You'll probably feel better afterward."

"You obviously have no idea how bad it really is. I-"

"You in there! Out with it!" came the troll guard's gruff voice as he prodded Moonstone unkindly with his spear. "The Darkmoon Ceremony is only two weeks away, and we need to have you prepared by then."

I glanced apprehensively at the troll. I didn't like the sound of that one little bit! I turned my gaze back to Moonstone, who was visibly shaking. By now, all eyes were on the steel-blue stallion as he cowered in his tiny cage.

"Amethyst, what's going on?" asked Applejack, her eyes wide and frightened.

"It seems the answer shall be revealed to us before too much more time elapses." Wind Whistler, of course. As frightened as he was, Moonstone still managed to roll his eyes at her verbose comment. After several minutes of tense silence, I heard Moondancer's voice in my mind.

_-Darkmoon Ceremony? I've heard about that...Moonstone's involved in it?-_ Her mind-voice sounded extremely agitated.

_-Is that bad? -_ I thought-asked back. I was only mildly surprised I could do this. (Moondancer had once told me many unicorns could do this without much practice.)

_-Very bad...- _The maroon-maned unicorn trailed off. The mind-link severed as we both turned our attention back to the rainbow-maned stallion who had begun to speak, albeit haltingly.

"You see, I- Well I- The Darkmoon Ceremony is- What I mean is-"

The troll prodded him with his spear, this time drawing blood. "We're waiting, pony!" he growled, "Git on with it!"

Moonstone sighed, wincing at the pain. "I guess I can't avoid it anymore. You see- Are you really sure you want to hear this?" he asked again, interrupting himself in what I could only interpret as a time-stalling effort.

"YES!" came a chorus of replies from the surrounding cages. Everypony in earshot now had their faces turned toward the gray-blue unicorn stallion, anxiously anticipating whatever it was he was about to say. (Except for those who had been there longer than the rest of us, and had, doubtless, heard it all before. These individuals simply turned away, disinterested.)

Moonstone flinched noticeably at the troll's latest jab, which this time had produced a sizeable cut in the unicorn's rump, dangerously close to his planetary symbol. He sighed, hanging his dusky gray-blue head, as he blurted out, "They're going to sacrifice me."

My friends and I started at this. "What? What do you mean?"

"Just what I said: They. Are. Going. To. Sacrifice. Me. Two weeks from now, I will be nothing more than a haunch in their smokehouse. I've known about this for months now…that's why I can't 'lighten up,' as you put it, Applejack. I KNOW what lies ahead for me…for everybody."

He sighed again and continued at the troll guard's prodding, "The Darkmoon Ceremony…will spread clouds of darkness over the entire world…that will blot out the sun so that these trolls can venture past their forests and not have to worry about becoming—OWW! Sorry…" He turned to lick his wound, which had by now doubled in size when the troll viciously jabbed him.

"Moonstone! Are you alright?" I asked in concern.

"No…but it doesn't matter anyway. I'm dead meat as it is, so I shouldn't care if they impale me now."

"But…" I tried to interject.

Moonstone shook his head and continued. "The Darkmoon Ceremony will spread dark clouds over the entire world of Aquea'na, letting the trolls spread their empire to the other realms as well. Prisma is just their first target."

Firefly snorted. "Ha! So they're going to cover the world in darkness, are they? Little good it'll do them…Tirak already tried that! Look where it got him!" She tossed her sapphire mane proudly. "Not that creative if you ask me."

"Firefly…." I warned.

Moonstone took no notice, his garnet eyes troubled. "I don't know exactly what they have planned for me between now and the Ceremony, but…It's supposed to take two weeks, apparently, and I'm sure it won't be pleasant…But…Such is my lot in life…"

"Then we have two whole weeks to stop it!" Firefly said, unfazed by the troll who heard every word she said.

Moonstone shook his head. "You can't stop it. Enjoy what life you have left…once the Ceremony is complete…Well…they'll work you to the ground, and then slay you and hang your carcass in the smokehouse…next to mine if there's anything left of me…"

Moondancer cut in, "But…You're a Rainbowmane! One of the Blessed! They can't do that to you! The Great Rainbow protects all of its Blessed!"

Moonstone sighed and stood up, blindly accepting the chain the troll threw over his neck. "That is precisely why they picked me…because I am one of the so-called "Blessed" ones…Since I have a connection by birth to the Great Rainbow, my sacrifice in the Ceremony is supposed to destroy the Great Rainbow itself."

We all gasped at this as the troll lead the light blue-grey stallion out of his cage and down the boardwalk. -_Moonstone! Fight! Fight against that troll! He's only one; you can DO it! Don't let your fear and despair overpower you! You've GOT to fight! Don't let them destroy the Great Rainbow! If they do, we're all DOOMED! More than the trolls themselves know…They'll bring on their own destruction as well as ours…Our entire home is in jeopardy of destruction if this Darkmoon Ceremony comes to pass!- _Though Moondancer's mind-voice was directed toward Moonstone, I heard it perfectly well. I gasped audibly. We couldn't let this happen!

Moonstone just shook his head sadly and followed the troll. _-There's nothing I __**can**__ do. -_

My friends and I exchanged glances. There was no way we could allow this Darkmoon Ceremony to happen! From the tone of Moondancer's mind-voice, I could tell that it would amount to the end of the world.

We had two weeks to stop it.

And there we were, stuck in cages.

_Great Rainbow…We're doomed…_

* * *

Several days later, I was STILL in my cage, and we STILL had no idea how to stop the Darkmoon Ceremony. I was supposed to be some great "Marked One"…but…I had no clue what to do. I closed my eyes and pointed my horn to the ceiling of the cage, and, beyond, to the sky and the stars and the Rainbow I knew was out there somewhere. _Please…Great Rainbow….Guide me…I am but Your faithful servant…I want to save our Prisma and Aquea'na, and You, but I don't know how..._I sighed, wondering how I was ever to complete this impossible task.

Moonstone was returned to his cage after dark that day. He looked HORRIBLE. He was even more tired and dejected than usual, and on top of that, he had multiple bruises showing through his coat in various places, and...macabre looking designs etched into his skin that were bleeding. He looked to be in a great deal of pain.

"Moonstone!" I gasped. "Are you okay?" Stupid question.

He flopped down on his belly, splaying out his legs and letting his chin fall heavily to the floor of the cage with a thud. I winced. He sighed. "….No, Amethyst, I'm not alright. And I never will be, so stop asking." He said defeatedly, his eyes falling shut.

I gave a little gasp. Whoever had scored the horrible, bloody designs on his sides had also seen fit to put them on his eyelids.

* * *

Moonstone was taken away again in the morning, after being forced to drink some foul-smelling glop. We didn't see him for another couple of days, but I was sure I heard his mind-voice screaming for mercy in my head. I winced. So did Moondancer.

The unfortunate blue-gray stallion was returned several days later. I noted that a week had already passed with not one clue about how we were going to get out of this. Time was running short, and spirits were sinking lower and lower with each day that passed.

The unlucky stallion looked even worse than he had before. His hooves were cracked and bleeding. His mane and tail had been shaven off and sealed from their characteristic spontaneous re-growth with black pine-pitch; his beautiful rainbow mane and tail were gone. The small spark of life he'd had before had all but died to embers in his eyes as he collapsed, whimpering pitifully, to his cage floor.

The next morning, he was again force-fed the foul goop and then taken away. I wondered how long he would stay in whatever torture chamber they had him in this time.

More days passed. Despair had all but taken over my once fighting spirit. I began to wonder if the piteous stallion had even survived his latest torment when he was returned to us again, limping and bleeding even more. It was two days before the Darkmoon Ceremony was to take place, and I had all but given up hope as well. The forest we were now living in itself seemed to exude depression.

I looked over at the unicorn, now more of a dingy gray with red and brown streaks of blood intermingled within than of blue. I was mortified to see a large chunk of flesh taken out of the center of his upper lip, his right knee, and in various places along his neck. His left ear looked as though some large beast had chewed upon it. I winced. It looked extremely painful. But Moonstone took the pain and disfigurement in resigned silence. "Moonstone…." I started. "How can you just let them do this to you? Don't you want your freedom? Don't you want to live free of pain?"

He just looked at me. "You've had freedom…at least you know what it's like. I will have died hardly knowing it at all. It doesn't matter. I don't matter."

"Yes you do! You have to fight it!"

"Don't you see? I. Just. Can't." With that he gingerly laid his bleeding face down on a cracked hoof. "I only want to die and leave this misery behind." He then closed his eyes and tried to sleep, though I could see his pelt quivering in fear even in slumber. The poor guy…what he went through must have caused horrible nightmares.

Looking at him, a new sense of desperation overtook me. _I __**WILL**__ stop this!_ I did everything I could to escape my cage. The edge of the plank pathway was so tantalizingly close – there was a small platform underneath each cage that led to the main boardwalks between them – if only I could get rid of the wooden bars between it and me…

I tried kicking out the bars…it didn't work. I tried ramming, and then sawing and drilling at them with my horn…no use. However, I was determined. The bars were wood, right? I tried chewing them off. That made SOME progress, but made my teeth hurt and gave me splinters in my tongue. I impatiently spat out the chunks of wood. I'd have to think of something better.

Suddenly, it hit me. Teleporting! I could just disappear and reappear outside-

_-Forget it, Amethyst. We can't teleport THROUGH things.- _Moondancer's mindvoice cut into my concentration.

_-Why not?-_

_-Unicorns can only transport their molecular structure though empty space. If we tried to go through objects, we might encounter resistance, and then the teleportation would be interrupted, and we would appear INSIDE the object, and that could be fatal…-_

_-Oh.- _Now I understood. Scratch THAT plan. Something nagged at me, though. "But…What about that time in the caves…with the Crystal Ring?" I said, switching to verbal conversation. I still wasn't completely used to mindspeach, and it was starting to give me a headache.

"That was a special case. Your horn was sticking through the Crystal Wall, and thus the structure was breached and unstable …It was about to collapse anyway. In any other situation, it wouldn't have worked." I had come to rely on Moondancer for answers to my questions about all things magical, as she knew a lot about the subject. "Besides, I sense that your power relates to crystalline things and aspects, which also made it easier in that situation."

That made sense. My symbol and my name WAS Amethyst, after all; a type of crystal. That STILL didn't solve my problem. I pondered the bars in front of me. I sighed and began gnawing again.

Moondancer pondered for a while. "I think I may know someone who can help… Buttons, are you anywhere nearby?" she called out.

"Hmm?" came a sleepy voice from directly above me. Curious, I stuck my head through the bars and craned my neck, tilting my head upwards in an effort to see who the new voice came from. Another unicorn stuck her pinkish-purple head through the bars of her cage and looked down first at me, then at Moondancer. She had a blue mane with red stripes in it, and kindly blue eyes.

"This is Amethyst," Moondancer said, introducing me, "Amethyst, this is Buttons. Her magic consists of moving things telekinetically. She may be able to help us. I don't know why I didn't think of this sooner."

"Hi." I said, awkwardly, before being forced to pull my head back into my cage to alleviate the pain resulting from my uncomfortable position. "Owww…sorry, but I think I'll have to talk to you through the roof of my cage…that position hurts."

Buttons laughed softly. "I understand."

Moondancer spoke again, "Buttons, do you think you could open the lock on Amethyst's cage? It may be our only chance!"

"Of course! I can try, at least!"

My heart leapt when the lock on my door started to rattle as Buttons applied her power to it. Suddenly I saw movement on the boardwalks. "Stop! They're coming! They'll see what we're trying to do!" I whispered urgently. Abruptly, the lock on my door stopped moving. We watched anxiously as the trolls approached. Again, they took Moonstone away for more torture, leaving one of their number behind to guard the empty cage. The escape would have to wait.

We were running out of time, but at least this time we had the beginnings of a plan…

* * *

The day of the Darkmoon Ceremony dawned, misty and gloomy as ever. I was beginning to worry that the trolls wouldn't even bring Moonstone back at all this time; that everything would be over before we even got a chance to try to stop it. Fortunately, I was mistaken.

At first it looked like nothing more had been done to the blue-gray unicorn stallion. His wounds were the same; nothing new caught my attention as he was shoved back into his cage. The trolls fed him more disgusting goop, and then departed down the wooden pathway, laughing cruelly. I turned back to the beleaguered unicorn at his stifled whimper…and gasped. Aside from his previous injuries, he looked worse than ever, though I still couldn't place what had been done to him this time. He swayed unsteadily on his feet, head hung low. He looked ill. Then I noticed his horn…A chunk of the tip was missing! That explained his apparent vertigo. Moondancer had once explained that if a unicorn suffered a horn injury, that they would experience a disruption of equilibrium for a number of days afterward…at the very least. Add that onto the previous damage Moonstone had endured, and he was in a sorry state indeed!

"Moonstone…" I started, though I had no idea how I might console or help him.

"I…need to be sick…" he muttered, staggering to the side of his cage.

My friends and I conscientiously looked away in order to spare him any remaining dignity he might have. Several of the ponies in cages below called out in dismay at the unpleasant surprise they found raining down on them.

The mood remained somber as we sat there…waiting for the inevitable. All the while Buttons worked - more carefully and quietly this time - to free me from my cage. Subtlety was the key, as the trolls still patrolled the area from time to time, keeping tabs on their intended sacrificial victim. They wanted to make sure he didn't die before they intended him to, they told us sadistically.

Throughout the day, Moonstone periodically moved to the side of his prison to wretch again. "Too much sorrowart puree." He said sardonically between bouts of nausea.

"Is that the stuff they were…?" I started.

"Yeah." He said, turning around and settling himself carefully on the floor of his cage. "Now lemme be to suffer 'lone." He slowly lowered his head to his uninjured knee and slipped into a fretful sleep.

Though I knew there really was no practical use for it, I again found myself pitying him.

* * *

The subtle rattling of the lock on my door was like a clock ticking down the seconds until doom. I stared longingly at it…trying to will it to cooperate with Buttons' efforts. Suddenly there was a click, and the lock fell away. It landed with a thud on the forest floor. I tensed, worried that our captors might have heard it. But the trolls were currently occupied with other things…like prodding cruelly at their intended victim with their spears. I glared at them briefly, before turning my attention back to my now-open door. I grabbed the bar with my teeth, and held it closed so that I wouldn't be discovered as I waited for the trolls to tire of their despicable game and move off. However, it seemed they had preparations to make, as a higher-ranked troll so loudly pointed out to them before herding them off on some errand. I whickered softly, "Serves you right…" I muttered, returning my attention to the door when they were out of sight. Tentatively, I nudged the bars with my nose. Sure enough, the door to the cage swung open. I stepped cautiously out onto the platform, stretching my cramped wings. I looked back toward my friends. Unfortunately, the trolls had taken poor Moonstone with them again. Time was running out. I got the sinking feeling that they would not be bringing him back this time.

"Good luck, 'Thyst!" Firefly whispered, and winked at me, trying to put on a brave face, though I sensed her unease as well. I forced a return grin and nudged the cage door shut again with my nose to be safe. I wished that I was invisible…as it would make things easier. _Oh well._ Sighing, I turned back to the path and spread my wings…

I headed first to a group of cages the others had told me about, kicking the locks off of each one in turn. I held a whispered conference with the recently-freed occupants – a group of slightly smaller ponies with membranous wings…flutter ponies, I think they called themselves – informing them of the plan, before continuing on my way as they headed back in the direction of the others. Apparently they had some special ability that would be able to free the others faster than Buttons could alone. I was slightly curious about that, but…well…there were more important things to deal with right now.

I winged quietly over to where Firefly, Moonstone and I had first met Firefly's imprisoned human friend, Megan. I still didn't know how I was going to get her out of that pit-cell, but I'd deal with that when I got there. Again I wished I was invisible. I landed softly by the grate, glancing around nervously for troll-pursuit. The hallway was strangely deserted. _They must all be preparing for the Darkmoon Ceremony…_I thought, turning my attention back to the human in the cell below me. She paced nervously in and out of the dim light cast by the grate. "Psst!...Megan, was it?...I'm here to get you out! We have a plan!"

She looked up abruptly. "Who's there?" She looked confused…and a little frightened. Odd. She was acting as if she couldn't see me…But I was standing right above the grate! I shook my head. No time for confusion now, I had a rescue to perform. I glanced around, looking for something that might open that grate. There was a lever placed conveniently on a nearby wall. I was a little suspicious of this, but…time was short. I grabbed it with my teeth and pulled down.

SCREEEEECH!

I winced, and half-spread my wings, ready to flee at any sign of discovery. There was none. I refolded my wings and got back to the task at hand. The grate was now open, and the human inside was moving what meager furnishings were in the room around in an effort to reach it. Tensely, I stood over the grate, alert for any sign of trouble as she climbed out. She stood there, looking bewildered. Any other time I might have been curious about this strange, two-legged creature, but desperation made me accept things as they were without much hesitation. I was confused as to why SHE was confused though. "Uh…." I said, and she jumped. "What's the matter?"

"…Who are you? WHERE are you?"

Was she blind? Funny, Firefly never told me she was…

"Uh…I'm the one that just saved you…My name's Amethyst. Firefly calls me Thyst. And uh…I'm standing right next to you…C-can't you see me?"

"…No…" She put a hand out tentatively. It brushed my wing. I could see the gears moving in her expression. "…No wonder you weren't discovered! You're invisible!"

"What?" I said, glancing around, "N-no I'm not!...Am I?" I lifted a hoof and looked at it. Or I would have if I'd been able to SEE it. With a frightened whinny, I leapt into the air.

"Oh…NOW I can see you!" The young human exclaimed. "…But now we're vulnerable…" She glanced around again, nervous. There were still no trolls in the vicinity but…

I landed. Though I was a little hesitant to allow any creature on my back, this one DID seem harmless, and Firefly had let her sit on HER back, so…I spread my wings. "C'mon. Let's get back to the others…hopefully the…flutters?...were able to get them out." She seemed to get the message, and jumped on my back. It felt…strange…to have someone sitting on you. I spooked slightly, though I tried to control it.

"…You okay? I can get off if you're uncomfortable…"

"N-no…I'm ok. Just never had a rider before." I stammered, still slightly uneasy about this. "It's…instinct. This goes against it. Don't worry I'll be fine…"

"Well…okay…I don't want to make you uncomfortable though…"

"It's really not a problem, I'm over it. Hold on." I spread my wings wide and headed back to the others…

* * *

I landed with a soft 'Thump!' back on the boardwalks between the cage-bearing trees and glanced around. The flutter ponies were still working at freeing the cages' occupants, but many were already free, and disappearing into the misty shadows towards freedom, foals protected at the center of the fleeing herds.

Those of us that had stayed behind would attempt to halt the Darkmoon Ceremony and save Moonstone, though I still had no idea HOW. So few of us had remained for the upcoming battle; we ponies were, for the most part, peaceful creatures. My three friends were there of course: Firefly ("No way you're leaving ME out of this!" She had said after she and the human Megan had broken from their initial reunion-embrace.) Applejack, and Moondancer. Wind Whistler had also stayed, insisting that we'd need someone with superior intellect such as her. Somehow, I didn't doubt that. I had come up with this plan, but I'm the first one to admit I didn't know anything at all of what I was doing. I didn't even know where Moonstone had been taken. Buttons had stayed as well. She had helped to free me, and besides, we might need someone with what Whistler termed 'telekinetic aptitude.' And then we had the human Megan and myself of course. Several of the fairy-winged flutters would go along as well. No telling when we might need what they called 'Utter Flutter' again.

We were at last ready to begin the rescue mission. Only problem is, I still had no idea where to go. I exchanged glances with each of my companions, stamping a hoof in irritation at my ineptitude.

"When all else fails…Rush right into the fray!"

I grabbed Firefly by the tail before she could get too far ahead. "Are you infane?" I said around a mouthful of electric blue tail-strands. "Vat'll never vork!"

"Amethyst here is correct. We require a modus operandi before adequate enactment is undertaken."

There was a collective silence, broken finally by AJ voicing what we were all thinking. "…What?"

The blue pegasus sighed. "…We need a plan." she reworded. There was instant comprehension on the faces of my friends.

"…That WAS a plan!" Firefly muttered sulkily.

"Not a successful one. Suppose that—"

"Not right now…Moonstone needs our help!" Before the two pegs could get further into their argument, Megan was delegating. She appointed the fastest of the flutter pony escort as a scout and sent her to try and find the location of the intended sacrifice while the rest of us tried to dredge up a plan of action. I could see why everybody liked the strange two-legged off-world creature who was still seated on my back. She was good at problem-solving and diffusing potential conflicts.

Before long, the scout had returned, a look of agitation on her face. "I found them." she said, a hint of panic in her voice, "There isn't much time. Follow me." And she darted off, the rest of us following and sticking to the shadows.

* * *

We paused for a brief rest in the shadow of one of the immense pine trees, preparing ourselves to dart to another hiding spot.

"And just where do you think you're going, hmm?" A voice spoke up from the gloom in front of us. I stiffened. _Great Rainbow, no… _I'd heard that voice before…in the troll royals' throne room. From out of the darkness, stepped none other than Prince Wraithwisp, sneering contemptuously at us.

"You!" Firefly spat eloquently.

Before my excitable pink-pelted friend could say anything foolish, Moondancer 'accidentally' swatted her in the face with her tail. "C'mon…we don't have time for this!"

Mustering up what bravery I could, I stared the troll in the face. "We WILL defeat you and save our friend, you can't stop us!"

Wraithwisp, oddly, made no move…either for or against us. He waved onward dismissively. "I'm not gonna stop ya. But I have to tell you…yer goin the wrong way." He sneered at us again.

"You're just trying to trick us and stall us! Don't listen to him! We'll be too late!" Firefly pushed past him angrily.

"…Wait…he's right. I…I took a wrong turn I think." The flutter pony scout hung her head. "I was so agitated; I didn't remember the way…we…We have to trust him…"

Wraithwisp chuckled. "If you want to save yer friend, follow me." Apprehensively, we followed him, until he stopped at the mouth of a cavern.

I snorted and tossed my head. "A cave…why is it always caves with you villains?"

Firefly broke in, "…And why are you helping us? You're one of THEM."

"Firefly…hear him out." I said, remembering my adventure on the Skyland, and the ogre that had helped me there, Darpayo. "Sometimes allies come where you least expect them."

The troll sneered again. "Oh I'm no ally. I'm not helping you for the sake of your friend or to save the world." He grinned unpleasantly before continuing, "It's just so…so BORING when everything goes according to plan. Mother plans things out too much. By helping you now, I throw some uncertainty into things."

None of us could really believe what we were hearing. He was helping us…purely for his twisted amusement? "Yer crazy." Applejack snorted in disgust.

"Thank you." He grinned again. "Now…If you wish to save that 'Blessed Rainbowmane' stallion of yours…I suggest you proceed on in. Beyond the mouth of this cave lies the Temple of Darkmoon Rising, and, within that, the dreaded Pit of Eternal Agonizing Screams."

I gasped, "The PEAS? The place the queen threatened to send us when we were defying her?"

He nodded. "The very same. A more fitting place for a sacrifice I've never seen…if I do say so myself." He smiled unpleasantly. "If you'll excuse me, I must go rejoin my brethren now in order to begin the ritual. I suggest you hurry. Not that it will help you any. You'll all end up in the smokehouse at the end for defying Her Majesty of course." He glanced at Megan. "Except for you…You probably wouldn't taste very good. Too stringy." I could feel the human's grip on my mane tighten in anger at that remark. The troll prince finished with one final jibe, "But I'm sure Mother will find SOME use for you. Until we meet again on the battlefield, _farewell."_ He finished sarcastically, that aggravating sneer still on his face as he vanished into the darkness.

I stamped my hoof. I wanted to race after him and impale him on my horn. I almost did, but Megan spoke then. As angry as she was, she still provided the voice of reason, calming all of us down. "No! We have to save Moonstone first! If we don't…"

Moondancer finished the thought, "We're ALL doomed."

We raced off into the cavern that would lead to the PEAS and the imperiled Moonstone.

* * *

We picked our way as quickly and as carefully down the slick stone pathways, avoiding the pitfalls along the way. It would have been a lot harder for me if I had not been born in a cave, and therefore knew how to traverse them, but…some of the others were having trouble. Whistler had to quickly grab Buttons by the mane to stop her from falling into a shaft that we saw had many sharp stones protruding from the bottom. Sighing in relief, she was more careful from then on.

Rounding a bend, I gasped and stopped short. There was the temple, in all its twisted, horrifying glory. Torches of green flame illuminated stone that had been carved into the shape of a twisted and pitted trollesque skull. I snorted. These guys sure liked to build according to stereotypical villain architectural lines. We couldn't just stand there apprehensively eyeing the structure though. Even now, I could hear the sound of drums emanating from beyond. With a lump in my throat I closed my eyes and walked into the skull's gaping maw, which formed the temple's doorway.

Within, the décor consisted of more bones and torches. There was a steep stairway directly in the center, leading downward. I grimaced. Hooves weren't very useful on narrow steps. Oh well. What had to be done, had to be done. I started down those steps, but then noticed another pathway, this one consisting of a ramp. That would definitely be easier to use. We continued down its twisting and turning length, which spiraled around the pit's circumference. I chanced a glance out into the depths beyond the bars that periodically separated the ramp from a steep drop into the bottom of the pit. Directly across the immense hole, the stairway wound in a parallel spiral. I could see trolls on that stairway, carrying items that I couldn't – and probably didn't want to – make out. I was glad we had taken the ramp, although the question of WHY it was there nagged unpleasantly at the back of my mind.

Soon we came to the bottom of the pit, and the end of the ramp. Unfortunately, it was barred by a wooden portcullis. _Oh great. Great Rainbow, we're doomed…_I thought for the millionth time. Suddenly, the grate began to slide upward inexplicably. Glancing behind me, I could see someone coming. I panicked, and dove for cover behind a railing.

"Am…where'd you go?" One of my friends whispered. "For that matter, where's Megan?"

"We're right here!"

"We can't see you!"

"Amethyst, you're invisible again! And so am I!" Megan's voice came from my back. I felt her dismount, and she was visible again.

"Extrordinary. Your lack of visibility is dispersed to encompass any who are in contact with you." Wind Whistler mused.

_Amazing…She's right… _"Ok, Megan, get back on. Everybody else, take a bit of my tail in your mouth…we're going through…as soon as that gate is open enough…NOW!" I darted through, the human on my back and everybody else hanging onto my tail. As soon as we were through we hid beneath a…something. I didn't even want to look at the hideous device, which had clearly been designed to deliver pain to diminutive equines.

"What…is this thing…? Is this a…UGH. Great Rainbow, no!" I gulped. Firefly wasn't the type to get horrified like that.

"It appears to be a device for the forceful detachment of wings…" Even Whistler sounded aghast.

I grimaced. I specifically had NOT wanted to know.

"Thanks, Whistler, we can see what it is…you don't have to explain it." I had to agree with Firefly on this one. All the same…

Nervously I refolded my wings. "Look…if you have a better hiding place…I can't keep this invisibility thing up. I just discovered it myself today. The main thing is that we help Moonstone and stop this sacrifice…"

"Look, there he is…he looks TERRIBLE."

The grey-blue unicorn stallion was led, stumbling and limping, from the very edifice we had just emerged from. His hide was covered in even more festering wounds, his hooves were still cracked and bleeding, even more so than before, and his horn was missing even more chunks, causing him to sway and lurch about even more. Small, twisted reptiles leapt and bit at his sides as he was pushed and prodded toward an altar in the center of the pit. One of the ugly little beasts made a mighty leap and latched onto his as-until-now undamaged ear, chewing and gnawing on it viciously. The troll guards smacked at it and it released the unicorn's ear and retreated to the shadows, but the damage was done. Now both of Moonstone's ears were ripped to shreds. He had a strange metal bar between his teeth.

One of my companions called to him, "Psst, Moonstone! We're going to get you out of here! Hang on!"

"Shh!" I whispered urgently.

Luckily, only Moonstone had heard the remark. He glanced briefly in our direction, and I could see that the bar he held in his mouth was covered in a strange bloodstained cloth. It was also SEWN to his lips. He couldn't even open his mouth. I had no idea what it was for, but I was horrified and had to look away. The Chaoticals had never been THIS brutal. I would have preferred that to our current situation. To the Chaoticals we were merely overly-willful livestock. To these trolls, we were livestock, food, AND potential sacrifices. _I WILL stop this…_My eyes narrowed as I watched the stallion lead to the altar, beside which stood all four troll royals. Prince Darkmoor and Prince Moonblood held the same malevolently expectant expressions. Prince Wraithwisp still looked bored, but at the same time slightly devious. Queen Gleila grinned sinisterly, cradling a wavy-bladed dagger lovingly.

The drums increased in tempo as the intended victim was lead to the altar. Moonstone was prodded to place his front hooves on the stone block, as the trolls lifted his face with the aid of the bar sewn to the unicorn's mouth. The protruding ends of the bar were placed in stone slots in two pillars to either side of the altar, so that Moonstone could not move his head and his neck was exposed. He did not resist any of this, though I'm sure that position was painful. I saw him close his eyes, waiting for the inevitable. The queen flipped the dagger and caught it by the hilt. "Where is the shaman? I want to get this done!" The green light from the multiple torches flickered eerily.

"Patience, Mother, he is coming." Moonblood said, pointing to the staircase; an old, grizzled troll wearing a complicated headdress approached, bowing before Gleila as he took the knife from her hands and started muttering strange words that none of us could understand.

I felt all my color draining away…literally. Alarmed, I looked at my companions. They, too looked paler than usual.

"Am, we have to do something!"

"I know!" Unfortunately, I currently didn't really have a plan. But time was running out.

"Megan, do you still have the locket?" Firefly asked.

"Yes…" I could practically hear the gears turning in the human's mind.

"Then USE it!" Firefly exclaimed urgently.

At the altar, the dagger was poised near Moonstone's exposed neck. I'd had enough. Megan was just opening the locket as I reared, whinnying the phrase that seemed to have become my battle cry. "I am Amethyyyyyyst! I am the Defenderrrrrrr!" With that I charged the queen, horn lowered. Nimbly, she stepped aside. The human on my back tightened her grip on my mane, trying desperately to stay on.

"Thyst! The shaman!" One of my friends shouted. By now the rest of them were also fighting the swarming trolls. I caught a glance at Wraithwisp's insane grin before whirling and aiming a double-hind-leg kick at the shaman as the knife continued toward the intended sacrificial victim. The shaman went sprawling, and the knife flew out of his hands. In horror I saw the red line on Moonstone's neck. Were we too late? I looked again. He was still alive, but bleeding. It seems the dagger had missed its mark, but still scored on the stallion's neck.

The queen was screaming, I glanced that way and my head went up, shocked. The dagger's misplaced flight had buried it in her side, but she was still alive. Crazed with pain and anger, she pulled it out of her side and lunged for Moonstone…

"NO!" I screamed, but it was too late. The dagger, while it had again missed its mark, was stuck in the stallion's shoulder, up to the hilt.

The troll queen, bleeding and enraged, leaped at me, and again I reared. However, this time the human on my back was ready, hanging on and compensating for the fact that I was no longer on all fours. She opened the heart-shaped pendant at her neck… Suddenly there was a flash of colors and the Rainbow had picked us up and headed skyward, and I was suddenly inexplicably drilling a hole in the rock ceiling with my horn. I would never have been able to do this normally, but the Rainbow was lending me strength. I went crashing through the hole in the roof, and then the Rainbow deposited me on the ground of the pit again so that I could continue the fight. I wasn't sure what the use in punching a hole in the ceiling was, but…now was not the time to question it. The Rainbow swirled around me momentarily before heading skyward again, where it was lost to view.

We were still losing. The trolls had corralled most of my friends, and somebody had bandaged Gleila's wound and she was lunging for the dagger that was in Moonstone's shoulder.

"Noooo!" I whinnied in horror as she stabbed him again. Had she completely lost her mind? "Someone get moonstone loose!" I shouted before I realized I was the one carrying the only one of us with thumbs. I clapped a hoof to my forehead momentarily and then flew toward the bar that held Moonstone captive. Megan lifted it out of its brackets, and Moonstone was free. However, he was loosing blood. The human dismounted again and tore off her pant leg to wrap on his wounds. I doubted it would be enough, but…I had other things to deal with at the moment…like the troll thugs that were approaching us. I prepared myself to go down fighting.

Suddenly, the Rainbow was back, and behind it…

The room filled with sunlight, and I heard trolls screaming. I stared as they all were incased in stone as the light hit them. Suddenly I understood. The mist enveloping the island…their plan to permanently blot out the sun…it all made sense. The sun turned them to stone on contact, so they could only conquer the world when it was gone. And the Rainbow…Facilitated the return of the sun. If they had destroyed that…the blotting clouds would have been ever-present.

However…Moonstone was still bleeding. The Rainbow swirled around me, and moved into my horn, and I got the distinct impression of what it wanted me to do. I knelt and placed my horn to each wound, which closed up and stopped bleeding. I couldn't knit it completely however, and I couldn't heal the old wounds from the days leading up to this sacrifice…and…I wasn't sure…the stallion might have already lost too much blood. It was all I could do however.

Megan picked up the hideous dagger and carefully severed the stitches that had been holding Moonstone's mouth closed. We then stood up and glanced around. All the trolls were now grotesque statues, including the ones imprisoning the rest of my friends. Firefly gave a disgusted snort, and kicked one over. That stone troll hit the one beside it and caused it to fall as well, and soon all the stone trolls encircling them had toppled over and they were free as well. They joined us around the stallion. The Rainbow emerged from my horn and passed over all my friends, and I saw their color return to them. Then it circled me again, and I had the sensation of being hugged, before it retreated back into its home in the locket.

* * *

We emerged from the PEAS, assisting the weakened stallion as he limped beside us. He was silent as we rejoined the others in the glade they had escaped to.

"The seaponies are waiting at the beach just beyond these trees to transport us back to Prisma—" The speaker broke off abruptly, dropping onto folded forelegs before me, followed soon after by the others…and then even my friends.

I exchanged glances with the human, Megan, who shrugged, as perplexed as I was. I turned back toward the others. "Uh…what are you doing…?"

"You have been Touched."

"W-what?" I took a step backward.

Moonstone spoke for the first time since we rescued him, though his voice was still weak. "You have been Touched by the Rainbow. It has chosen you. You may not have been born a Rainbowmane, but The Great Rainbow has given you a great Gift. We of the Blessed are chosen to serve It, but we may only do so peacefully. You…You have been chosen for a different purpose."

I was starting to get freaked out. "N-now come on…what are you saying?" I had known that I was different, since I had both a horn and wings, but…they were acting as if I was some sort of deity.

Someone pointed to a nearby pond. "Take a look at yourself. You are changed."

Bewildered, I made my way to the water's edge and stared at my changed reflection, half-expecting to have been somehow changed into a Rainbowmane. I was half-right. The reflection that stared back at me was the same as it had ever been…but for one small difference. My mane and tail had not entirely been turned rainbow colors, but…My forelock…the part of my mane around my horn – and I suddenly remembered how the Rainbow had moved into my horn briefly - was now clothed in rainbow colors. Overwhelmed, my rump hit the ground suddenly, as I sat there staring. I muttered, "So…what does this mean?"

Moonstone spoke again, though I could tell his voice was weaker. "I…believe the Rainbow chose you…not as a Rainbowmane exactly, but…as…our…protector."

I thought back. What was it I was always saying, 'I am the Defender!' or something? "So…I…really AM the Defender?"

Megan interjected…"So…whereas the Rainbowmanes are like priests, you are a paladin?" The human had to go on to explain that where she came from, a paladin was a type of warrior backed by a deity.

"It seems that way…" Moonstone's voice was still fading.

"Moonstone, quit talking. We need to get you medical attention. Another Rainbowmane can discuss this with her!" Someone admonished and began directing him toward the beach so they could get him home.

"No…She…needs to hear this. I'm dying anyway… I…have lost too much blood…still bleeding…inside…"

"Don't SAY that! We'll get you help."

"But…what am I to do? And…you can't die! Didn't you say that if you died…the world would end?" I exclaimed. It was all happening too fast…There I was, some kind of…Rainbow-supported fighter…and Moonstone was still dying.

"That was only…if I died as a…sacrifice…the way those trolls…intended me to. Now that the…ritual was interrupted…I can…go with the…Rainbow…in peace…" He collapsed onto the ground.

"Stop talking like that! You…you're scaring me! What…What do I do now that I am this 'Defender?'"

"You…will have to discover…that for yourself…Amethyst…Defender…of Dreams…" And he closed his eyes. And I was alone…along with all of my friends. We were all alone that morning…I had gained a title…and lost a friend…all at once.

* * *

Author's note: Poor Moonstone. I'm sorry. I feel like such a heel for doing that right now...


End file.
